Mequon Nature Preserve - Winter Frolic

Embry and I enjoyed a chilly but fun-filled day at the Winter Frolic, hosted by the Mequon Nature preserve.

Peter & Lily 

We kicked off our day with a horse sleigh ride through the prairie.

Even drones love nature

Then we headed to the lumberjack competition. Even a drone wanted in on the action. Here, pairs of representatives from four amazing local nature centers (Mequon Nature Preserve, Riveredge, Schlitz Audubon, Urban Ecology Center) competed in various lumberjacking activities.  We didn't stick around so see the whole event, but we did visit back later to see the end result.

I may have to create one of these for our school's outdoor classroom.

We then headed back to the education center to warm up and visit some of our favorite animals. Embry even put on her "owl eyes."

Blanding's turtle, one of my favorites

Back to the winter wonderland we went. The first stop was at the pond for some ice fishing. Though she didn't get even a nibble, Embry didn't seem to mind.

Then we headed to the "little tower" before the fine fragrance of a campfire lured us into making some roasted marshmallows.

With the gooey marshmallows warming us up a but, we took the tractor ride over to the big tower to see some Malamute friends and a dog sledding exhibit.

It was hard to tell who loved the other more, the puppy or the child.

Up the tower we went to check out the telescopes (a tradition every visit) before tractoring back to the petting zoo.

As they each approached, Embry made sure to notify the animals that she didn't have any food.

Chilled to the bone, we returned to the education center to visit more animals.

We then wrapped up the day with a few nature-based crafts. We walked away with a vibrant leaf print, a bird bag of nesting materials, and a nature mobile, which is already hanging in Embry's room.

This was our first Winter frolic, but it most certainly won't be our last.