"Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." -Charlotte Mason

 

Signs of Spring

Signs of spring in the Rocky Mountains are definitely different than what I grew up with on the Great Plains. For one thing there is still plenty of snow when March 20th rolls around. The daffodils have not even sent up their green shoots, nor the tulips. This is our fourth spring to live in the mountains and we are growing more accustomed to this winter wonderland and what early signs of spring look like. For instance today I saw the first bluebird and a red winged blackbird. The ice on the river has begun to break up and the river is flowing nicely amid its snow banks. We are still skiing, but the snow is not so much powder as it is icy, and there is mud everywhere. One thing that we have not yet seen, but are looking forward to as a sure sign of spring are the white pelicans that nest just down the road from us. When they arrive we are told it is surely spring.

Summer at Rocky Mountain National Park

 We have been to Rocky Mountain National Park 3 times so far this summer. Our favorite spot is the Alpine Tundra. This area is absolutely amazing! Here are some photos from our last visit. They were all taken in the Alpine Tundra, except for the picture of the elk. It was taken on Trail Ridge road on our way down.



map of the Rocky Mtn. National Park





Marmot (we also saw Pika)





Love these Mushroom Rocks!



Where did October go? (another forgotten post!)

October has flown by! This year we have been involved in a local Soccer league, and it has turned out to be so much fun.

The boys have loved it and so have we. It has led to numerous games in the backyard with Mark and I proving that we are not as young as we think we are.

Our littlest one is now almost 10 months old. He is all over the place and if he can get his hands on a crayon he is thrilled.

Rainbow Trout- Outdoor Hour Challenge- July

Rocky Mountain National Park in Spring (2013 Nature goals)

This post is a little late, but better late than never! One of our nature goals for 2013 is to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park every season. Here are some pictures from our late Spring visit. The boys enjoyed getting their Junior Ranger badges on this trip. They learned about the 4 ecosystems in the park. The riparian (wetland) ecosystem, montane ecosystem, subalpine ecosystem, and alpine tundra ecosystem. Last week we visited the park again. The primary difference that I saw was in the alpine tundra. Summer pictures coming soon!

Alpine Tundra

Alpine Tundra

Alpine Tundra- It was extremely windy up here. So much so that we had to yell to hear each other.

  

The boys are in the subalpine ecosystem, but they are looking down on the montane and riparian ecosystems.

Riparian ecosystem

Montane ecosystem

Montane ecosystem---We loved the velvet antlers!

Camping

This was our first family camping trip. Mark has taken the older boys a number of times, but this was the two younger boys first time. We really had a good time.

I have never heard so many coyotes in my life. We started hearing them before the sun had set and in the middle of the night they were having quite a party. It was great!

The next day we explored the ruins of an old fort. The boys loved climbing all over the old buildings.

Roses

April is such a beautiful time of year. It seems like every week there is something new to see on our nature walk. The whole world is blooming with color and the sweet smell of flowers is in the air. This April we were once again amazed by the roses at our local gardens. We have a tradition that each of us gets to pick our favorite rose and have our picture taken next to it. This is just a fun way to get the boys to really look at the roses and admire them for more than two seconds. Also it is interesting for me to watch them choose which is their favorite. A funny thing happened this year because after they had all chosen their rose and had their picture taken they came across some yellow roses that they all decided was their favorite. It is unusual for them to all agree on something so whole-heartedly!

Here they are with their altogether favorite!