Nature Walk and Book

The boys are early risers, and with the 100 degree heat, it's been nice to get them outside for a little bit in the morning before it gets way too hot for Joshua to be outside. This morning, I decided to take them on a "nature walk" around the neighborhood. So, at 8 a.m., we headed out the door with notebooks, pencils/crayons, and a Fisher Price camera to record our findings.

 Joshua did a great job on his first walk together without a stroller. He waited for Jacob whenever Jacob stopped to "write down his observations." Sid the Science Kid needs a huge thank you from parents for teaching our kids these big words for science experiments! Joshua enjoyed the freedom, and enjoyed stopping for birds and ants.

 Jacob was fascinated with these apples. He took pictures of the rotted ones, and green ones, and then stopped to watch the ants crawl in and out of the holes and eat. He moved all of the apples on the ground together so the ants could "eat all day and all night and all day tomorrow."

 I told Jacob he had an ant on him, and he said, "That's fine. I don't mind. I'm investigating." Again, thank you Sid the Science Kid! Hearing my little guy say investigating in a regular day-to-day setting is amazing! I love this picture of the ant on him and how interested he was in the whole thing.

 I am shocked that all of the above pictures were taken by his Fisher Price camera - the camera worked out really well! I sent the pictures to Meijer right away and ordered the prints. We picked them up before lunch, and then right before bed sat down together to make a nature walk book.

 Jacob kept telling me he had homework - where do they learn what homework is?! I have never told him homework exists! But, he enjoyed doing his "homework," and was thrilled with himself for cutting so easily this time. In the past, the scissors have been a little bit of a struggle, and tonight it all came together for him! I was super impressed with his cutting skills tonight, and how he cut out exactly what he wanted from a lot of the pictures. He did a great job putting his book together all on his own.

 He wrote his name on the front. This is the best the picture would come out with the pencil on green paper, but I was proud of him for writing better and better every day. He still runs out of room most of the time, so he just finishes writing his name down the page instead of straight across sometimes!

I had a blast doing this with him, and was shocked we did this today considering I had zero plan for the day. I love days we just wing an activity and it turns out better than anything I could have planned the night before. Glad Joshua was involved in the morning portion, and that Jacob could continue later on his own for more fun. Joshua wrote in his own notebook on the walk, too. He loved being just like Jacob and refused to use the crayon and would wait his turn to use the pencil.