Running amidst the skunk cabbage

Today's hike took us to the Mercer Slough where the skunk cabbage is in full bloom. It was wonderful to see lots of classrooms of kids visiting the slough, our tots, as well as the preschool kids all exploring with smiles.

Finding hidden pools

There is such contentment to find a secret pool, to sit on a rock, and to feel the growing independence of exploring your world with a stick. Here the boys are with their neighbor friends at the local arboretum.

Curbs

My three year olds are working on balancing so whenever we find a safe curb to walk along I give plenty of time to practice this skill. This curb is surrounded by northwest native plants. T has just maneuvered around the Oregon grape plant. Although I wish we didn't have so many parking lots, if we have to have them they should all be so beautiful.

Tree planting!

My boys are only three but somehow they have seen
much more tree cutting events than tree planting events. Perhaps it is because even though we have planted trees we have not used such incredible machinery. Today's planting event was great because the of the trucks that parked along the street and in particular the corkscrew drill they used to dig holes. I am hoping that now the boys won't only play tree cutters but also tree planters when they are doing imaginary play with their trucks.

It's beautiful to find new trails

This trail is located right in the city! Volunteers have been meeting the first Saturday of the month to make it a viable place to hike, hauling out the garbage and the blackberry bramble rejuvenating to its native beauty.

Growing up Urban Wild

Spring came this week with blustery winds and chill temperatures. Nonetheless our family has had plenty of outdoor time with neighborhood walks and spring planting in the garden. Today, however, the sun shone brightly and although temperatures were only in the low 50's we played outside.

For reflection I am going to document what the boys did:

With frost still on the ground we went outside and filled the bird feeders.
After breakfast the boys traveled by stroller to the light rail and on the return trip we went to the park. The boys discovered the twirly slide. Smiles were wide and S said, "I did it!" with pride after making it down. It's been many months since we have been to the neighborhood park. When our Spanish speaking three year old friend joined us, you could hear "rapido!" as they zipped down the slide. T rode the yellow dump truck and learned how moving back and forth you could make it go. Then it was a long walk home. The boys both rode in the stroller and walked. We had to stop by the landscaped yard with the rosemary - ooh, the boys just wanted to smell it. This was in the same yard where yesterday the landscaper had stopped to talk to the boys and had handed them a bit of "thundering plum" branch- with its pink flowers and reddish leaves. Now the boys find this tree all over.

After dinner they played with the neighbor boys who ran over to our yard as soon as they saw the boys emerge. The plans that had inspired the boys to go outside were pushed aside as the boys learned to negotiate sharing with their neighbors.

As the sun set the boys rode their balance bikes. S was with me and stopped and asked to touch the in places smooth and other places rough Pacific Madrone tree bark.

It was a day of well spent energy. The question I am pondering is how much of this was unstructured play and how much was structured? At the park the boys and their friend just ran. In the backyard with their real metal tools I helped mediate. What is the right balance between just free for all with other kids and learning to play with intent at the tender age of three?

Two wheel bikes

It seems like yesterday that the boys were riding "push" bikes that an adult had to push in order to make them go. Now the boys have moved to balance bikes.

In March you must seize the sun breaks and get out when you can. Here we have found a lovely green space to ride in. I'm not sure that it is the best to encourage riding on trails, but at this point the boys are quite within my sight. They also at safe here- unlike urban streets with so many cars pulling in and out. Finally, we didn't even see anyone else on the path so it makes sense that at least we are using it!