Nature Weekend

This past weekend was awash with nature. It started with an impromptu trip by Ted and Joe to Westwood Nature Center while Clara was at a birthday party.  Joe identified and recorded his bird sightings:

The boys ate a picnic lunch along the trail  and stopped in the Center to check out some snakes and lizards.  

An even bigger adventure happened that night when the whole family went on a Full Moon walk at our favorite Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. No sooner did it start then the wild turkeys flew up into the trees to roost for the night. Who knew they did that?! It was quite a sight to see them take off. Soon after, we heard the owl calling out and after a bit it took off across the park and into a large tree that sat just beneath the (mostly) full moon. Another fascinating site.  We walked further, up to the prairie and caught great views of the last daylight and the moon lighting up the fall foliage. Beautiful.  

The next day Ted took the kids to the park where poking a stick in the lake and finding the ducks are important rituals. 

In all it was a very inspiring, calming, and beautiful weekend in nature together.