And the difficult learning of patience.

Here is Rainy waiting-

and waiting-

and waiting!

Finally!

A new microscope with new slides to view is an afternoon well spent! The microscope is- My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope and the really cool box of 25 slides is- Celestron 44410 Prepared Microscope Slides. The microscope is very easy to use and has dual lights, one below the slide and one that shines from above for a different type of observation. The box of slides includes a bee face, dog intestines, blood smear, and many other cool things.

Shop update- I have added a lot of plush to my 5 Orange Potatoes Etsy shop over the last few days- new mini hedgehogs, mice, hootenannies, a star-nose mole, and a seahorse. Hop on over for a look.

“That’s all.”

Amphibians-  Gray Treefrog, it was nice to actually see one of these little guys which we hear every night in the warm summer months.

They camouflage so well. This guy really looked like the Pin Oak’s bark, including the lichen that grows on it.

COEXISTING-  the two Gray Hairstreaks are sharing the mint flowers with a Pearl Crescent. Actually there are 100s of these small butterflies, including skippers and sulphurs, wasps, and bees all over our blooming mint right now.

Patterns in nature- a Buckeye butterfly’s concentric circles.

Literature- Charlotte’s Web, an Ohio black and yellow garden spider (underside picture). Did you know that there are 7 segments to a spider’s leg?

  If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

5 orange potatoes, the five of us,little eco footprints,potje thee, silverpebble, the work of childhood, searching simplicity, love living simply, strasilo, semi-handmade, this little kitchen, school time adventures, heirloom seasons, the loving path, a place like this, the magnifying glass, pebbles in the water, chocolate eyes, we are here, rosy-posy, oakbee farm, my year in haiku, time to craft, child in harmony, serendipity, secret water, free flowing ways, se7en, a smile a day, where ada likes to wander, wide open campus, what are we doing today mom?, chasing domestic bliss, dim sum, bagels and crawfish, adventures of a flake, frontier dreams, the snail’s trail, goose and binky, over the crescent moon, it’s a wild life, my world edenwild,the binker files, lil muse lily, foursquare schoolhouse, obaitori, boys in the woods, bumbles and light , wonder in the woods, terrallectualism, semi-crunchy mama, Gwynneth, All Things Beautiful, we are here, shivaya naturals, free to learn and lovin it, moment to moment, being brooke, roots & wings co, little greenapple farm, 5 Orange Perks, home made simple, mommy and me, the child’s paper, jeszie, leaping greenly spirits, living and learning, for love of my oceans, earthboys, mummy do that!, pacific northwest nature for families

“That’s all.”

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Larval food: milkweeds

Adult Monarch

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor philenor)
Larval food: pipevines

Pipevine chrysalises- notice the gorgeous iridescence-

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
Larval food: prickly ash, rue, hop tree, and citrus plants

Giant Swallowtail larva munching all over the hops tree.

Adult Giant Swallowtail

Cecropia Moth Caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia)
Larval food: willow, maple, cherry, lilac, boxelder, ash, elm, and birch

Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius)
Larval food: carrot and citrus family- dill, parsley, fennel, and Queen Anne’s Lace

Feeling solitary-

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus glaucus)
Larval food: willow, birch, cherry, and poplar

Araina Silvery Blue Butterfly (very rare)
Larval food: watermelon, berries, peas, and popsicles

Araina and I did a little spying and snapping pics of Fauna while she was volunteering! That’s the back of her in the peachy pink shirt showing a couple the Giant Swallowtail caterpillars in the hops tree.

I have more pics to show on a later date.

“That’s all.”

Recently, I read an article in the NY Times called Playtime is Over, by David Elkind, he said something that floored me (in reference to Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods)- “our young people are more aware of threats to the global environment than they are of the natural world in their own backyards.” This statement has really stuck with me. We teach our children to make the correct environmental choices and be aware of our environmental footprint, but are we REALLY teaching them WHY they should be doing this? Are we doing more than simply saying, “Save a tree, don’t use that paper towel.” Are we teaching them RESPECT for the plants and creatures as well as telling them the consequences to poor environmental choices? Getting them outside AND going outside with them is the best way to learn respect for the beautiful Earth we live on. Turn off the TV and video games this month, climb a tree, look under a rock, play in the mud, plant some seeds, eat a dandelion leaf, etc……explore YOUR backyard!

 So I have a challenge for you that I know will be quite easy for many of you in the blog world; I know how many of the bloggers I visit respect and care that our children get outdoors on a daily basis. Lets show the world how we do it; in honor of Children and Nature Awareness Month, go outside everyday, rain or shine; then take a picture each day, for the rest of April, of your children outdoors and post it. Just a single picture will do; words aren’t even necessary. Lets spread the word and go outdoors!

Leave your blog link below if you’re with me!

 ”That’s all.”

We did a little activity today called Tree Body Sculptures, suggested by my sis Katrina who needed some pics of this activity for her arboretum brochure, we went outside and observed the trees first-

Then moved our bodies in different ways to mimic the shapes of different branches.

Becoming part of the scarlet maple-

Mimicking the ash- love the curve of the foreground limb-

Pin oak sweeps downward-

Another ash tree, need 2 bodies to mimic the upward reach of limbs; fingers spread apart as small twigs at the tips-

 Mimic the magnolia piggy back style-

And Fauna found a way to mimic a tree using her shadow-

 Now to sketch the silhouettes in our nature journals and I feel so inspired to make a tree out of felt right now! Happy Spring!