sunny day at Cylburn

We had a great visit at the Cylburn Arboretum last week. Although the gardens are more manicured than the wild things I grow and love, they are home to all kinds of creatures. It was fun to watch E try to catch butterflies, touch the flowers and taste peppers from the garden. He also loved spending time with his little buddy!

 

 

play date at West Shore Park in the Harbor

The fabulous creator of (cool)progeny hosts play dates and mom's only nights in and around Baltimore. We went to her recent play date downtown and had a blast! Be sure to visit her site and check out the great calendar listing of activities for kids under the age of five. She's got some (cool) guest bloggers AHEM as well!

Assateague Island: a little calm after the storm

What impecable timing. Our professional development weekend in Ocean City gave me lots of space to reflect and recharge after feeling so worried about E. The core preschool staff visited Assateague Island and it felt like being on another planet. It was calm and wild. It felt remote, no doubt because it's winter, and was full of amazing nuggets to discover.

happy trails

When the weather hovers between summer and fall and the sun starts to cast that undeniably autumn amber glow, I know it's only a matter of time before the leaves wrinkle and the blooms fade. Before summer gets away from me again, I plan to go hiking and photograph some of summer's last flowers.

This weekend we hiked on the NCR trail. Besides our favorite mud puddle (E likes to stomp in it with his Gram), there were tons of flowers to photograph along the way.

Jewelweed - a yellow variety I hadn't seen before. Usually it's orange.

I think this is upland boneset? Frothy white flowers attract a lot of insects!

Gorgeous Christmas fern peeking out of rocky crevaces.

Posion ivy. People never seem to remember what it looks like, and it's a tricky plant because it can be a vine or growing low with other herbaceous plant material. Sometimes it looks bright, almost lime green and other times it's a dull evergreen color like this. Sometimes there's a sheen on the leaf (the icky oil!) but not always. The little "lobe" on the lower part of the leaf helps me distinguish it. And yes, there are three leaves.

Phlox spp.?

Beautiful goldenrod in all its glory.

Hibiscus moscheutos (rose mallow spp.) looks ultra violet at sundown. The ants just love it!

camp!

E has his first week of "camp" today! Alright, so it's more of a mommy & me class everyday, but it's at the Nature Center where I know we'll get to hike, meet animals, sing songs, etc. (Let's face it, I planned the camp in June.) Nevertheless it's wonderful to participate as a parent and not the teacher!

He enjoyed his first day. He loved staring up at the tall trees in the forest and romping through the tall grass in the meadow. We used a sweep net to catch insects and found loads of big grasshoppers and crickets. He even picked one up on his own! He oohed at some huge mushrooms and fungus growing on an old tree. He actually turned around three times to wave bye-bye to the fungus. Further down the trail we stopped to feel moss on some tree bark. All the parents melted when he kissed the tree (no prompting from me, mind you). That's my little nature boy!

It was a cool morning with a hint of fall in the air. As we walked back to the Nature Center, the wind was gently swishing in the tree tops. "Wishhhh wooshhhhh" I whispered in his ear. He whispered the same back.

After the class, we spent some time in the amazing Outdoor Classroom. We had so much fun climbing in this huge hollow log. It's so big that I can sit inside of it with him. It was a wonderful first day of camp!

land of odd

Great way to start a vacation...asleep!

You can see the bay from our porch.
It's fun to watch the boats go by.

We just returned from a great mini-getaway downee ocean, hun. Our trip was way to short, but then, I guess that's always how it goes.

It amazes me how adaptable kids can be. Despite the newness of the place, our little guy closed his eyes for every nap and bedtime with no qualms and slept, well, like a baby. (It helps to be wiped out from the sun and sand, too.) I'm talking 3 to 3 1/2 hour naps, people. And no waking during the night! He somehow knew and understood that daddy and I were going to be right there when he woke up.

In this strange land of Ocean City, Maryland our tot learned many things. For example, rubbing sunscreen in your eyes doesn't feel nice. Sand tastes gross with granola. Sun hats are non-negotiable (for both SPF and cuteness factors). Salt water taffy tastes like...well, mommy still won't let you have any but Gram and Pop will let you eat anything in exchange for kisses or smiles. To our amusement, your first taste of salsa at La Hacienda was magnifico!

Chasing sea gulls, a fave new pastime.

If only we'd had time for Thrasher's vinegar fries and Fischer's popcorn on the boardwalk. We'll be back, O.C. We'll be back.

See mom, I didn't need to wear that sun hat!

daily walks

Every morning after milk and books, we head outside for a walk in our jammies. Sometimes the milk and books go outside with us and we get our snuggling under the tree. But either way, E really looks forward to taking a "ack" outside. He stands at the door looking out and begs "at! at!" (which means "out"!).

I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to let the grass slide under our toes still cool with dew in the morning. We don't mind the rough sidewalk, either. I like for our feet to connect with the ground.

We have a great little neighborhood garden where E likes to play with rocks. Today he learned how to say "ock" as we sorted the gray and black ones. There are lots of rich textures and smells to explore there.

During our walks, we stop at a series of huge bushes and look inside for birds and spider webs. We observe clouds in the sky. We pick up cicada molts, helicopter seeds, and acorns. We stomp on the grates in the sidewalk because they feel bumpy on our bare feet. We listen for lawn mowers, airplanes, and "ruck"s (trucks). We admire his favorite parked cars. "UH-OH!" he exclaims every time we walk past the car missing a hub cap. We feel the wind and E stops to touch and kiss Mrs. Betsy's tree. We trace our fingers over the numbers on yard address signs. We stop short to watch (or chase!) rabbits. We examine mushrooms and look closely at bumble bees.

We make a game out of just walking - great big steps and baby steps. Then we RUN!

We also have a routine evening walk where we say hello to all the neighborhood dogs and bump into other kids. The light is different and the air feels different, too. It's a wonderful way to wind down together.

Today during our evening walk, some of the neighbors had sprinklers on. The sprinklers were spraying water in our path which turned out to be a fun game. I tried to consciously absorb how precious E really is during this beautiful, fleeting time with him. It all seemed so perfect - the sun was beaming on our faces and making the arcs of water sparkle as they gently moved up and down the sidewalk. E and I tried to race back and forth dodging and squealing as the water trickled down on us. He wanted to do it again and again, so I let him savor the moment too.

The morning and evening walks are a staple now and I cherish them. We have each other's undivided attention and we do something together that we both enjoy. And it's our time take in all the things that make our community feel like home.

play date at Oregon Ridge Nature Center

Hmm, what's making that sound? Mom, can I pet the rooster?

Hey Conner, what's so funny?

We had a mellow outing at Oregon Ridge Nature Center this week. It was a mild day for a morning hike, plus E was ready for a change of scenery. Oregon Ridge is a HUGE nature preserve with a rustic nature center. There's always plenty to explore there, even for toddlers.

My friend and I met up and brought our babes. Not quite a year apart, both tots enjoy gazing up at the trees making sounds or waving to fellow hikers passing by. We wore our kids during the hike (so you'll notice I didn't take any pictures)...he's not as light as he used to be! I think it's safe to say I need to retire the bjorn. He'll be two in November and he's getting more solid all the time! Still, fresh air in the woods was peaceful for all of us.

A highlight for the boys was the chicken coop, complete with a rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing. There is also an old house that is used for archaeological studies, which E took a liking to.

Oregon Ridge is free for visitors, so if you're in the area, I highly recommend checking out the nature center and trails! There is a lake in the old quarry where you can go swimming, along with a playground (although there is a small fee for the lake). They are also planning natural play area, following in our footsteps at Irvine. It will be fun to visit once it's complete!