Spring Break

Emma is on spring break this week so we are staying busy and trying not to kill each other.
Yesterday we had some errands to run that included going to the nature center to purchase a gift for Emma's cousin. While we were there we took advantage of the great spring weather and went to the pond. There was another mother there with her 3 year old and 11 month old boys. Emma and older boy were dipping with small nets and trying to catch aquatic insects. I caught them some water beetles and a damselfly nymph. Emma kept taking the containers and filling them with water and "more nature."  Emma called the dock her boat and after dipping for awhile we stretched out our legs and enjoyed the wind and scenery.
All of us decided to do a little exploring so we headed to the bridge and then beyond the "turtle station." Emma and Lian and raced up and down the hill and the drainage ditch. We saw some cool tracks and saw the sandhill crane fly over head. Emma and I stopped at turtle station and talked with Nathan (a naturalist) who showed us the cool things they had caught. We saw a water strider, water spider, and a huge predacious diving beetle! That was awesome!
Then we all went our separate ways. Emma convinced me to also buy some maple sugar candy on our way out!

Today we went back to the nature center for picnic lunch with Daddy, who met us there on his bicycle. The wind was a bit chilly, but overall it was great. Emma hid in a low-hanging tree and made Daddy horsey gallop back and forth. After Steve left, we explored the shack that was empty. Emma pretended we were coyotes; the shack was our den. She taught me how to jump and tilt my head back to howl. From there we headed down to the pond again. On the "boat" Emma watched her head shimmer in the water. The wind made her reflection wavy. We walked farther past the turtle station and saw two turtles sunning themselves. (A group of visitors also found two baby turtles that they let Emma hold. She liked that!) Emma had me do a count down for her while she raced up and down the hill.
The best part (for me) was when we picked up sticks and played Poohsticks off the bridge. Emma kept saying that the sticks were Eeyore, "What are you doing in there, Eeyore?" She was Roo and I was Rabbit or Pooh depending on the moment. Her stick (Eeyore) came out the other side first. Mine got snagged on some plants right under the side of the bridge. After that Emma tried to get me to buy more maple sugar candy; I didn't have any money. She also wanted to visit the shack again but the campers were there. So we headed home, filled with fun nature center memories!