First Caterpillar of the Year

The first caterpillar of the season is a Wooly Bear also known as Isia isabella. It will become a Tiger Moth. We love to identify the many different varieties of caterpillars. We love this site because we don't have to look through a thousand pictures to find what we're looking for; we just enter in the information and it helps narrow our search.



Visit the other Great Outdoor Challenge players- 133 so far! It’s never too late to join; people are still entering daily!

lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise,luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia,becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney,branflakes,jessica, renee, haiku,brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth,julie,kyndale,kelly,lizzie, eileen,ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, renee, anita,lisa, jenn, montessori, marita,jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie, gidget, elizabeth, emma, rosina, saminda, melissa, katie, becca, atouria, barbara, ariella,missy, elizabeth, sarah, eileen, lisa, stacy, jennifer, tulsileaf, lisa C, morticia, angela, rana,jamie,lisa c, luz, charley, heather, valerie, kirsten, rachel, annie, kendra, beth s, lindsey, michelle, megan, jen, jenni, gabby, renee,korina, linda, adventurekerrs, laura, melissa, eva, jenny, amber, deb, wendy, courtney, shanti, msrev, kellyi, tammy, julia , maureen,indigomum, andrea, mindy, becky, dawn, sarah,michelle, shelley

Experiencing the Outdoors by Going...Indoors?

We've missed a couple of days of the Outdoor Challenge due to a fundraiser I was helping to coordinate. AH actually did spend time outdoors each day, but I was too busy to photograph it.

Yesterday AH and I had to do some errands to do in the car. It was an overcast day, threatening rain, but it never did. Since we were in St. Paul, we decided to visit one of our favorite places: Como Zoo and Conservatory. It is a very small zoo, but it is free and they have many, many educational programs available. Como Zoo is so much closer to our home than the larger Minnesota Zoo, so we stop by quite often.

Our first stop was the Tropical Trail exhibit. This is one of our favorites during our long, dark and cold winters here in Minnesota. But it is fun anytime. Now you'll know why it's like being outside:
AH's favorite resident is the Sloth. We've been lucky enough to see the zookeepers deliver her to the tree in the morning and watch her climb up and get comfortable. Can you see her in the photo below napping in her favorite spot?

After the Tropical Trail, we walked around the zoo (outdoors!!) then turned our attention to the conservatory. For some strange reason, we don't visit this too often. Strange because when we do go, we invariably see something interesting and amazing and wonder why we don't come more often!!

Here are some photos of our wanderings today:

AH was fascinated to find a cinnamon tree. Here they are:

Visit the other Great Outdoor Challenge players- 131 so far! It’s never too late to join; people are still entering daily!

lisa, sanders, angelina, phyllis, sarah, christie, jennifer, debbie, dong dong, denise,luisa, joy, stephanie, cori, alex, dawn, kristen, catherine, tricia,becky, christy, ruth, kari, courtney,branflakes,jessica, renee, haiku,brynn, amy, clemencia, sherry, leslie, lise, renee, anet, jenn, marina, amy, ella, marcia, karen, beth,julie,kyndale,kelly,lizzie, eileen,ag, mari-ann, cindy, robin, nicole, debbie, julia, renee, anita,lisa, jenn, montessori, marita,jeannie, hallie, mandy, kangaroo, andrea, joey, carmen, teena, stephinie, gidget, elizabeth, emma, rosina, saminda, melissa, katie, becca, atouria, barbara, ariella,missy, elizabeth, sarah, eileen, lisa, stacy, jennifer, tulsileaf, lisa C, morticia, angela, rana,jamie,lisa c, luz, charley, heather, valerie, kirsten, rachel, annie, kendra, beth s, lindsey, michelle, megan, jen, jenni, gabby, renee,korina, linda, kerrs, laura, melissa, eva, jenny, amber, deb, wendy, courtney, shanti, msrev, kellyi, tammy, julia , maureen, indigomum, andrea, mindy, becky, dawn, sarah

There's Life in our Garden!

We spent some time exploring what was coming up in our garden.

Parsley

Horseradish

Rhubarb (we can't wait to use that in a pie!)

Okay, so the next picture isn't in our garden, but is considered part of our garden...

Chives!

We also found a huge ant hill, onions, and carrots left over from last summer! Yummy!

Best Friends

This is how AH spends his time in nature with his best friend...

I guess swing sets aren't only for swinging!

Children and Nature Awareness Month Challenge

I've decided to participate in the Children and Nature Awareness Month Challenge over at one of my favorite blogs, 5 Orange Potatoes. She has a special page set up to explain the challenge. Basically, during the rest of April I'll be posting pictures each day of our outside time.
I'll start off with some pictures from our pond excursion last week. AH and I decided to collect pond water so we could study some "water critters" under a microscope. The pond is a short walk from our house, so we decided to bring a mid-morning snack so we could sit and enjoy the weather after we collected our sample. We saw Mallards, Red-Winged Blackbirds and heard many different sounds that we couldn't identify. AH and I decided we need the Field Guide to Minnesota Reptiles and Amphibians and the Fabulous Frogs Identiflyer card!


Today Austen spent a good portion of the day outside enjoying a nice spring day...
Here he is enjoying one of his favorite things...the swing!

Let's all get outside this month and really look at the beauty right outside our doors!