What We Saw on Our Nature Hike Today

The kids and I go on a nature hike every Friday. We like the break from our normal day-to-day routine and getting outside always makes us feel better. We visited the local marsh today, which is our usual spot. We like to study how the same place changes over time, especially with the seasons being so different from each other here in the Midwest. Fall arrived not too long ago. We wore our hats and mittens this morning!

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Here are a few photos of what we saw.

We stopped for a break at this lovely spot. The kids and I climbed on some old tree roots and played in our “Monkey House” (a clearing in the woods with a hanging vine–you shake the vine in warning if a lion approaches).

My sweet little explorers!

Ruthie and I watched this Monarch soar into the marsh. She landed on the path and then crawled around for a while. I thought she might be getting cold and Ruthie thought the butterfly’s mommy could help. A very friendly hiker came by and accidentally stepped on her. We were all sad. I gently carried her to a bush so she could rest peacefully under the green leaves.

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We drew our nature study pictures when we got home. We observe as much as we can while on our nature hike and then we draw something we saw with as many details as we can remember when we come inside. Today Samuel chose to draw a mega-mushroom growing on the side of a tree and I chose to draw three different kinds of berries along with a couple interesting leaf imprints.

Here’s Samuel’s nature study drawing. Ruthie is looking at the tree wearing her pink coat. You can see the mega-mushroom growing around the tree’s trunk at the bottom. Samuel perfectly captured the proportion of the mushroom to the tree–it was huge!

Here’s my nature study drawing. I tried to remember how the berries attached to the branches and their exact hues of red and purple. Below my picture is a photo of the two different leaves. I found them both on the same branch of the same tree. The curvier leaf was closer to the tree’s trunk, and I noticed the same pattern on the rest of the tree. It was so interesting!