Nature journaling

In the spring, I did a ton of research and brainstorming to come up with a plan to keep my kids occupied this summer. I found lots of great ideas on Pinterest including a post about nature journaling. My kids LOVE to draw and hike and observe nature-y things, so this was a natural fit for us (pardon the pun)!

I bought a couple of sketch books and let the kids decorate them with some sticky foam letters and markers:







Their first nature drawings were done in our backyard:





From there, we ventured out into our neighborhood for a creek walk and some journaling there:





We love to take our nature journals along on hikes, walks, and even trips to the dog park! Drawings of flowers, trees, animals, bugs, animal tracks, and natural settings will be so much fun to look through on a rainy day when we're missing summer.

Some ideas for nature journal entries that I love:

• Drawings, sketches, paintings (try colored pencils, crayons, markers, watercolors, washable paints)
• Leaf or other rubbings
• Pressed flowers or leaves attached with clear tape
• Quotes (my 7 year old wrote a favorite movie quote, "we're going to take a walk outside today…" on one of his drawings). Love.
• Make designs or paint pictures with nature finds dipped in paint (conifer branches, rocks, acorns, pine needles, etc.)
• Tape a seed from something planted in your garden next to a drawing of the fruit or veggie that grew from it. Maybe add a pressed leaf too!

Find more great nature journaling ideas, here.

What summer days are made of

A summer photo series: Each week during our summer vacation I will be posting a photo summary. I will include photos that capture the mood of our days and how we're spending them. 

I am a little late posting the photos from last week- it has been a little crazy around here as you'll see!

This week we...

…adopted two little fish that we named Goldy and Red (ok, actually this happened on June 3rd, but I wanted to make sure they made the blog!):

…did a little neighborhood hiking down by the creek in a spot my kids call "under the bridge" because it is, appropriately enough, under a bridge:

…created nature journals and did some drawing (I'll write more on this in another post):

…went to a park to watch a movie...

...and, instead, adopted the sweetest little rescue dog in the world, Miley! She's a 7 month old Brittany Spaniel and Border Collie mix:

See what I mean? Eventful week!

Joy

My creative side is very opposed to following routines. I have learned that my inspiration to be creative or to write or even to be happy doesn't come from quiet. It comes when my mind is un-numb. While routines are very helpful for managing the tasks of life, they are numbing to the brain.

I chose "joy" as my word for 2013. I have a tendency to overwhelm myself with hard-to-achieve goals and projects. I would prefer to do things that bring me joy instead of just giving me a feeling of accomplishment when they are checked off of a list after a ton of hard work.

This summer I decided to try some new things just because they sounded really fun. I ran my first trail race (the 5.8 mile short course of The Dirty Secret Trail Run) in May. The race was hard and the weather was HOT. It wasn't what I expected in that way, but it was so great to be out on a trail, in nature, instead of on a city street.

On Saturday night I ran another trail race. This time it was 10k (6.2 miles) in the DARK! In spite of the difficulty of the run (there was a very steep 1 1/2 mile hill just after mile 3) and the fact that I took a huge fall (olympic potential gymnastics here, people) I absolutely loved it. I loved watching the sky change as the sun set when we started.



I loved the firefly-like line of glow sticks and headlamps on the trail in front of and behind me. I loved the "take-your-time-to-take-it-all-in" vibe of the race. I loved that those ahead would warn those behind of rocks and other obstacles. I loved the minute or so that I stopped on a hill and turned off my headlamp to admire quiet night in the darkness. It was new. It was nature-y. It was awesome. Joy. Mission accomplished.

Ready to run; I'm on the right:



Other posts on un-numbing and joy:
Thank you, vacation
Fortified
Staying afloat: My bag of tricks for staying buoyant 
Why I tri