Last Day Hike - Pike Lake Segment

As people prepare for the new year, many like to reflect on the year that was. My kids and I like to hike so that's what we did to celebrate the last day of 2019.

The kids and I wrapped up the hiking year with a trip on the Ice Age Trail on a small but serene portion of the Pike Lake Segment.

With last night's fresh blanket of snow on the trail, the girls were excited to "trailblaze" the trail with the first footsteps of the day.

Even Ardy enjoyed the snow, though giggling at his sisters was his activity of choice.

We stump jumped, searched for tracks, and made new tracks of our own.

2019 was great, but 2020 will be even better, starting off with the First Day Hike at Lapham Peak tomorrow. See you then!

West Bend Segment

With our first half of winter break overcome by sickness, a morning on the trail was much needed, both physically and emotionally. The kids and I headed out to West Bend to check out a segment we've explored a handful of times but look forward to visiting more in the future.

The trail was extra muddy, but that wasn't a problem at all.

We made sure to bop as many blazes as could reach.

Mornings like this are things we cherish. We loved the wonderful weather, seeing many other people (and puppies) enjoying the trail, and exploring in nature.

There were plenty of opportunities to test our balance and creativity through natural play.

Now that the healthiness seems to have returned, we expect some more outdoor adventures left in 2019.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 16 - 2019-20 Edition

The final week of Nature Kindergarten 2019 involved plenty of play. With much appreciated assistance our 4th grade trail buddies, we dispersed lots of seed in hopes of helping diversify the land for future years.

Work hard. Play hard.

Dispersing seeds was well received though playing with the empty bags was just as joyful.

After starting our holiday nature gifts, we added more seed tot he land. With a few bags filed with milkweed fluff, we felt compelled to have our first ever fluff flying festival. I think the class enjoyed it!

We also spooked up some, Naturally, we had to track them. They led us to one of our favorite spots: the inside tree.

The nature gifts of snowmen and trees turned out great and offered up lots of creativity, fine motor skills, and somewhat messy fun.

Every time we hike around, we are blessed with awesome sights and sounds along the trail.

Inside, we noticed our eagle's first egg had hatched? Would we see the new chick? Only time will tell.

While we waited, we made natural ornaments for our holiday celebration. We read Eve Bunting's Night Tree and decided on finding our own tree to decorate with treats for nature.

Making the ornaments was only half as much fun as placing them with our families.

Then, when we checked back in with our eagle family. We saw this little cotton ball of cuteness.

After emptying out our compost bucket, it was time to end the week with play. Many more adventures ahead in 2020!