Where should we go today?

Today was a gorgeous, mid-60s autumn day here in the Old Dominion. So after Mass we headed out for adventures, ending up (after a drive around and a visit to a community playground) at Prince William Forest Park .

This is one of those parks built in the 30s through FDR's Conservation Corps job-creation. This was land that had been farmed and left for centuries since the first colonists came to the area in the 1600s. The problem with farming back then: they didn't understand the need to rotate and allow fields to "rest". The land was played out and people left; then new folks would come a few decades later and the cycle continued. By 1930, only small farms remained and much of the land was gradually reverting to the gorgeous deciduous forests we see now.

In 1933, the CCC worked on reforesting the area. By 1941, the CCC had built roads, bridges (the one pictured above is over Quantico Creek), dams, and five rustic cabin camps (and from mid-April till mid-October, you can rent these same cabins - now wired with electricity). Today, the park's more than 15000 acres contains over 35 miles of hiking trails, 20 miles of biking trails and camping and fishing facilities. We can't wait to do short camping trips to this area -- only 15 minutes from the house and yet so completely "out there".

We had such fun -- dh did a bit of nature study with us on the trees by teaching the kids (and me!) about identifying the bark, leaves, and size of trees. We collected lots of acorns, hickory nuts and colorful leaves from the maples, oaks, and poplars.

Here's the nature table String Bean designed for her family ... the table cloth really brings out the glorious autumnal colors.

Nature Study: 1st attempt not so successful

OK, I'm going to admit something here ... I'm AMAZINGLY nature challenged.

I'm a fairly intelligent woman.

I have a BA in print journalism from Gonzaga University and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing Research from the College of William and Mary. I've scored well on various batteries of tests including passing a psych review to work in Flight Control at Delta Air Lines (not an easy thing to pass but I'm spatially top-notch and am amazingly honest when quizzed by a psych!). I have an amazingly high iq and read all the time -- deep stuff, not just fluff.

But, somewhere my education is lacking. Somehow I've gone through 18 years of formal schooling + a total of 40+ years of living and I'm still missing something. I'm nature challenged.

No, really, really nature challenged.

I can't tell a River Oak from a Water Oak from a Live Oak. And the only reason I know that there are more types than just "Oak" is because I spent more than an hour -- an embarrassing hour -- trying to teach my kiddoes about trees today.

I had grand plans -- we'd head to the Marine Museum park (an absolutely beautiful playground carved into a mixed type forest with gorgeous trees) and each pick a tree. We'd use the Common Native Trees of Virginia to determine exactly which tree and then draw it in our nature journals and record various facts and then come back in a month and take more readings. It would be fabulous.

Than reality struck.

I couldn't figure out whether a leaf was compound or simple, pinnate or palmate, 11 or more leaflets vs less than 11, slate gray bark or "not curled and peeling" .... well you get the picture.

At one point, I'd lost both String Bean and Bam-bam, who'd left quietly deciding that ignoring this crazy, book-reading lady would be better than trying to understand what the heck she was muttering about ... "margin wavy or widely toothed or is it at least some of the leaves deeply lobed"?????

Only LegoManiac stuck it out with me.

After almost an hour, we were able to confirm that one tree was a sweet gum and the other a flowering dogwood ... the kids were NOT impressed.

I came home to my very understanding husband. The man who has a PhD in Poultry Science, has coached Science Olympiad middle school teams to the Nationals, a guy who was North Carolina State champion in "Tree-mendous" .... did I get sympathy? Well, a bit.

His suggestion? Take a deep breath, re-group and down-size my expectations and lesson plans.

So on our next outing ... probably on Friday (you have to get right back up on that horse, don't you?) ... he said just collect different leaves, bring them home and really look at them, figure out what they are and KNOW the leaves.

Once the leaves fall (in the next month or so), than really look at the bark of the different trees ... take rubbings, pictures, sketches and try and id from these. By the time Spring comes around, we should know the "population of trees" in the park; we should know what we're looking at or looking for and be able to start id'ing trees in situ.

Who knew you had to know so much about trees to be able to identify them with your children?

And, you know the really ironic thing?

String Bean's poem for memory-work this week is Joyce Kilmer's The Trees!

Field Trip: Shenandoah & Skyline Drive

I've been remiss in posting about our adventures!

At the end of June (after only 2 weeks of "settling in" from our move from Colorado to Virginia), we piled back in the car and headed to NC/SC to visit family and friends. We took the most beautiful drive down to the Raleigh area (avoiding at all costs I95!).

Leaving on a Sunday morning after Mass, we headed out 234 to Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive (and the park itself) were all part of the Conservation Corps projects that FDR developed to help get work for people. Now, there is some controversy about how the government managed to get the land necessary for this project (a Walton's show really showed us how tough that can be on family), but it sure did create a marvelous legacy 75 years later!

We entered the Shenandoah at the northern-most entrance (just off I66) and headed down, slowly, south as the road meanders through the park with lots of switchbacks, 30-35 mph roads, and cut-outs for panoramic views of the valley and the other nearby mountain ranges. After a wonderful stop for lunch at the lodge at Skyland, we continued down to mile marker 60 (but they're working on the road, the drive was taking longer than we expected) and over to I-81.

We had reservations for the night at the Peaks of Otter lodge, that sits on the Blue Ridge just outside the town of Bedford. This lodge is all that a lodge should be -- beautiful setting, inexpensive rooms, great food and a room where they had tons of lincoln logs for the kids to build!

We then headed down to Ben & Noah's Fickle Creek Farm for a too-short overnight visit than on down to SC for family, friends and 4th of July fun!

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Back home in Virginia, Kotch had a two-week "logic" class to attend which kept us home-bound and tied to the 10:30-12:30 class time. We were able to go hang with some awesome 4real friends IRL for a nice long visit.

This past weekend, we headed west again ... this time to check out Christendom College for Kotch as she begins the college-admissions process. Christendom, founded by the husband of the woman who founded Kotch's high school, is only 30+ years old (younger than me!) but is a gorgeous, traditional college campus that is solidly Catholic. It sits up on a rise above the Shenandoah River in Front Royal, VA! What a place to go to school!

After viewing the campus and hanging out in the Lions Park in Front Royal (with its awesome castle-park!), we headed again to Skyline Drive and spent a bit of time driving that again, stopping for a picnic lunch at Dickey Ridge and watching a spectacular rainstorm come through the valley. The visitor center has a great exhibit of the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge as well as the Virginia portion of the Appalachian Trail. The bookstore is fabulous too -- I was able to pick up Common Native Trees of Virginia (I'm sooooooo nature-challenged) and The Undying Past of Shenandoah Natinal Park which will be a fabulous living book for our American history unit this year!

The Shenandoah Park and it's surrounding area is just gorgeous. I'd have to say it's the prettiest spot I've seen (including the Rockies, the Alps and Scotland) and I soooo want to build my dream-cabin in this area. I'm lucky because dh feels the same way!

Now, if we could just sell that bit of house in Colorado ...

Nature Study: Jewells Wetlands & Fairy Houses

Well, yesterday may not have been the nicest day for a nature study field trip ...... but the kids, moms and crawdads didn't seem to mind too awfully much!

And once the rain ceased for a bit in the afternoon, we were able to take a few of the kids over to finish fairy houses. These are fairy houses similar to the ones shown in the book, Fairy Houses ... Everywhere by Barry and Tracey Kane. Another book, Fairy Houses, shows a little girl learning about these houses (and is really a delight to read to the littles!). These folks have also put out a DVD, Kristen's Fairy House, which is also chock-full of great ideas and really cool houses for the kids to make.

A great add-on to a nature study!

Nature Study: Denver Botanic Gardens

Yesterday, the "littles" and I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with Our Domestic Church (+ a friend) -- this was our first visit, but definitely WON'T be our last!

This is a wonderful place to do nature study -- it's got different environments including the rain forest, alpine plants, cactus and succulents, ornamental grasses, dryland mesa, plains garden, Japanese tea garden (where they host full Japanese tea ceremonies!), herb garden, cutting garden, water smart garden and more.

There is a kids' area with a REALLY cool Mulberry Tree hide-out (which would be a GREAT substitute for a sunflower house!) where we could get away from the "hovering round 100" weather we had yesterday! The kids' area also has container gardens such as a "Pizza Garden" with peppers, tomatoes, herbs or the "PeanutButter and Jelly Garden" with grapes, peanuts, strawberry, and wheat grass all growing happily together.

The best spot for String Bean, though, was a water garden with water lilies ... she just loves these and we used up many digital pictures on trying to get a good one of these lovely, floating flowers.

This field trip was yet another example that on our outings with friends ... we ALWAYS have good times and good learning intermixing to create GREAT memories!

LOOK at this picture ...

... taken by our good friends over at Our Domestic Church yesterday. Good friends, good times AND a morning of nature study at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (which used to be on the top-10 list for Superfund recovery --ie, REALLY bad waste stuff) .... what more could kids want??????

(And, because I'm a bit nature-challenged, it really makes it GREAT to go with a biology major -- especially when my PhD biologist husband is unavailable!).