Treasure Chest

I spent part of the morning, and some of the afternoon out of doors with "the collective". However, it was not usual sand box, swing set fare today. You see Spring has sprung.

Dash has been digging up the yard with a child's blue plastic shovel, looking for treasure, and has been unlucky until today. He managed to dig up 2 worms, which he named, put in a bucket with about 3 inches of dirt. He promised the worms he would take them fishing.

Pink Ninja joined him in his worm digging efforts, and spent her time lifting rocks, and finding bugs and ants. The children must have sat and watched ants and some sort of little white larvae looking things for 30 minutes.

We have been going on long walks when the weather will allow. I imagine they are long walks, especially for little legs climbing the neighborhood hills. We have been entertained, with the blooming Forsythia. Pink Ninja wanting to collect one of every blooming plant she notes on the way. She usually ends up with wild purple phlox, or a bouquet of yellow dandelions. Today we were lucky enough to come across the fluffy dandelions. So we blew on them, and covered the skies with seeds, that I hope do not find they're way into our yard.

I have a neighbor that feeds the Finches thistle seed regularly, and there must have been at least 200 of them in the trees around the block, all singing praises for the lovely lunch. Pink Ninja, loves to hear the birds singing. Every time she hears a bird sing, she says "Mommy, I hear birds singing, birds are my favorite". She says it in such a sing song, lilting sweet voice. I wish you could all hear her.


We were also lucky enough to find Maple seed. So I made the children stop walking, and pick them up. I instructed them to throw them as high as they could. "Watch them come down, they spin like the blades of a helicopter". They each collected a handful off of the street and brought them home.

The Monarch butterflies are in town, there were easily 100 of them flying along weaving in front of us, and over us all day. The children tried to chase and catch them. Suprisingly, the butterflies did not seem to mind. They seemed to enjoy the game.

Dash and Pink Ninja better finish off this jar of pickles, so I can poke holes in the lid, and find us a caterpillar.