Outdoor Hour Challenge #4

We are on a roll! Yesterday as part of the birthday outing we decided to go on a small hike. I am so NOT a hiker! I must say I did enjoy this one. The trail led to the lake and it was such a beautiful day and the water was so inviting and clear that I almost forgot I was exerting myself......ALMOST.

Here are some of the pictures we got along the way.

This is a strange fern (I think) type plant we saw. These were everywhere. They were pretty (from a far) and strange (from up close).

POST FOLLOWUP!!!! We did some digging around and we think the fern is called a fiddlehead fern and it is edible. They are however midly toxic so itis best to eat them in small quantities. It is only in season for a very short time in May. How cool! Have any of you readers eaten them before? Can you tell us what they taste like and what dishes they are used for? Thanks. I hope I am right but even if I am not, we had fun looking.

We liked this moss covered log and the little white flowers growing on top of it. Nature finds a way, huh?!

I have seen these somewhere, but where?

Then we started seeing shapes in the roots and trunks of trees. This one looked like an elephant. Do you see the two eyes and the (pardon me) trunk?

Click picture to make it larger and see the elephant.

Here is another example of nature finds a way. The bottom is the trunk of a tree (either diseased or it fell during a storm or something) but somhow another tree has decided to grow right on top of it. The visible roots are amazing!

The slug was not my favorite part, but the boy peeps enjoyed it very much.

And finally to the lake!!!!!

So today I asked the children to pick a focus area as Barb over at The Heart of Harmony asks us to do for Challenge #4. Since we have never done any sort of nature study it was hard to narrow it down. I think we want to focus on lake areas. We plan on going to the library to check some things out.

See you outside.......