Category: Nature

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Last Night’s Biking Adventure

Twice a week, I pack up the bike and take DD out into the (flat, but unfamiliar) neighborhoods where my other kids have gymnastics practice. The weather has been so mild we’re still able to go out even in December! I had just put white/red bike lights onto her bike since it gets dark so early now. So, last night DD and I set out on our usual (5pm) bike...

Power Finally Restored to Us… But Not For My Folks in NJ; How You Can Help Storm Victims 2

Power Finally Restored to Us… But Not For My Folks in NJ; How You Can Help Storm Victims

We had two days without power (heat, water or septic), but with all the preparations we had made (four huge storage tubs filled with water, two huge bags of ice in an ice chest to keep milk and stuff cold), we were able to treat it more like a camping trip and adventure for the kids. We pulled out the camping stove for coffee and heating up our meals (out...

The Hurricane Really Affects Our Area 0

The Hurricane Really Affects Our Area

The storm is really building up and gusts are expected to reach more than 70 or 80 mph here. As many of you know everything from the New York Stock Exchange to the Federal Government have shut down. All the public schools in our area are closed both today (Monday, as I write this) and tomorrow (Tuesday, when this will post). Already more than 10,000 people are without power in...

Frog Needs a Robotic Leg 2

Mom, We Need a Robotic Leg!

“Huh??  Why do you need a robotic leg?” “Look, the frog lost its leg.  We’ve got to help it!” “I’m not sure just how we’d do that.” “Okay, well, let’s just take it back outside.” And off the three kids went! I’m still chuckling!!

Tomato Hornworm with Wasp Eggs 3

Being Eaten From the Inside Out

In the garden last night we found another tomato hornworm which had left a trail of destruction as it ate through much of one of our plants. This time it wasn’t doing so well as wasp eggs had obviously hatched and was eating it from the inside out. Braconid wasps lay their eggs inside the caterpillar. As they hatch they eat their way out, killing the caterpillar in the process....

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Learning from Life: Archaeologist’s Visit and more

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about finding an ‘arrowhead‘ (really a hafted knife point) in the woods right behind our house. Yesterday morning we had the county archaeologist over to survey the site where we found the hafted knife. He examined it closely and said it was most likely a Piscataway Stemmed Point.  We then took him into the woods to show him the site where it...

Arrowheads 2

We Found an Arrowhead!!

I’ve been bursting at the seams to write this post, but wanted to wait til I had more information before sharing our excitement! Can you believe, we found an arrowhead on our property?! Okay, so technically it’s not an arrowhead, more about that in a second.   The first thing we did was start googling to find out more information. I really didn’t know too much about arrowheads. I was...

Northern Green Frog 0

Backyard Nature

This is a Northern Green Frog that took up residence in our little man-made pond. It’s been there for four months. If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that we love spending time outdoors. We live nestled down in the woods and have lots of critters and creatures around the creek that cuts through our property and in the woods beyond.   The kids have learned to...

Camping, Hiking and the Legend of Petit Jean 0

Camping, Hiking and the Legend of Petit Jean

I’ve always been an avid camper and backpacker.  I’ve backpacked a number of stretches of the Appalachian Trail and backpacked for nearly a month in the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  Hubby and I hiked quite a bit in the Outback in central Australia, did the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair overland trek in Tasmania, Australia and even had the opportunity to hike along the Annapurna Trail in Nepal.  All that’s great, but...

Celebrating Father’s Day 0

Celebrating Father’s Day

We celebrated Father’s Day by going camping this weekend. It’s a bit of work getting everything ready, but once we’re out there the time away is so refreshing!  The highlight was a beautiful two-hour hike we did together.  I loved watching Dad teaching the kids to skip rocks.  I have fond memories of doing that with my Dad that as a kid! It was picturesque and peaceful and just a...

Making Strawberry Jam 1

Making Strawberry Jam

Last year hubby and I transplanted a lot of plants from one of the garden beds to make way for strawberries. We planted 50 strawberry plants of different varieties a year ago. We got only a handful of strawberries last fall, but the past couple of weeks the strawberries have been extremely prolific!  The kids and I have been out every-other-day picking two bowls full of ripe strawberries each time....

Things to do with the Kids This Summer 4

Things to do with the Kids This Summer

Can you believe it? Summer time is almost here. My friend’s kids get out of school this week!  Our family is busy working out our summer plans.  We plan to do several road trips and are trying to find fun (and educational) things to do with the kids this summer.  We’ll be heading to Arkansas and Missouri, for example, and plan to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Mammoth...

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Vertebrates-Invertebrates — and Frogs!

Last week we spent quite a bit of time outside enjoying the wildlife in our yard.  We are really lucky in that we see a wide variety of critters every day.  We spotted a little Northern Brown Snake, a small mouse that was in the strawberry garden (corralled briefly in an empty pot and then released) and a toad.   We also came across a large millipede (probably four inches or...

What Should the Kids Be Learning? 1

What Should the Kids Be Learning?

I think we all worry a lot about what our kids need to know right now. What skills should they have? Can they do what they’re supposed to in fill-in-the-blank subject? We’re currently working on lots of stuff — math, spelling, physics, critical thinking, writing skills, music, but ultimately what is important that they remember and know from *this* day or *this* week? What do I want my kids to learn?...