Nature Walks: What a Great Way to Learn & Play!

This weekend, we went out and about and had a lovely time on a nature walk!
We had a wonderful time!
Nature walks are a great way to explore your surroundings.
They are fun, easy to do, and free!
Plus, they help children to make connections to the world around them.
We were up at The Villages, Florida at my parents' home there so we went on our nature walk on the nature trails there. Such a perfect time of year for a walk! It was actually cool enough for us to wear long sleeves!
Since it was cool and clear, it was a great weather day to take in all that we passed.
Here are some photos from our nature walk:

Checking out what is in the water under the bridge

Hugs and smiles as we stop for a photo by the water

Lovely! Even more so in real life and up close

So pretty

Little Bro's very happy to find some pine cones!

Big Bro and Little Bro on a pine cone hunt. If only this photo could really capture the sun shining through the pine trees and the cool. clear air that was blowing...what a glorious fall day!!!

Pine cone stash! Yay!

Having fun on the trail!

Lovely...

Boys wishing that we would have thought to have brought a bag to place their stash of pine cones in...trying to figure how to carry them all without dropping them

Such a vibrant shade of green

Boys being silly!

A little pause for some meditating and relaxation!

The heron looked like a statue but was real! So neat to watch!

View of all of the Spanish Moss draped on the tree.

The boys were fascinated by this...had to stop and check it out

Fun times! Nature walks rock!!!

Do you like to take nature walks with children?
If you do and have any photos to share, please leave a link in the comments section of this post!
Here are some resources in case you want to do more with outdoor learning in your home or school:

Thanks to Sara Hart for pinning this book to Pinterest! Think it looks awesome!

Source: simplekids.net via Colleen on Pinterest

This book looks amazing! On my wish list!

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Another great resource for outdoor learning!!!

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Plus, if you have not checked out our family's Crash Me Please entry for Yard Crashers, please click to see it now! We have the second highest number of page views for all of the South and the seventh highest for all of North America! We are hoping to win so that our back yard and lanai will be made over from a snake pit to a sanctuary. We want to have our own outdoor classroom and play area.

Hope that you will check out our entry!

Please leave a comment for us!

Hopefully, Ahmed and his crew will be coming soon to do our yard!

September = Busy, Busy, Busy!

The lovely wedding party...

Our month of September has been very busy.

We started out the month by taking a long trip up North to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Canada.

Uncle Kevin got married so we all went to the wedding.
Welcome to the family, Auntie Lisa!

Big Bro and Little Bro at the rehearsal dinner...

The newlyweds opening their present from us...

Having fun with the cousins at Uncle and Auntie's pool at their new house!

Big Bro attempting to tackle his much older and bigger cousin during a game of what was supposed to be flag football!!!

Big Bro gets a hug from Auntie Lisa...

Big Bro saying grace before the rehearsal dinner...

It was great to see family and friends before, during, and after the wedding celebration.
Checking out Pennsylvania and Ohio was a blast!

We checked out many sights in Erie and in Cleveland, too.

We also had a wonderful time in Canada, first at Niagara Falls and then, in Toronto.

Then, wrapping up the month of fun, we celebrated Big Bro's birthday. Originally, we were supposed to go to visit the Grands to celebrate the big weekend with them, but plans had to change. So, we went to Papa and G's winter place here in the Sunshine State and had a great time doing fun things there. 

Here are some photos of our fun times spent traveling over the last several weeks, from Canada and then back to Florida:

Family fun on the Maid of the Mist

The Maid of the Mist was a great way to see Niagara Falls up close!

The boys also enjoyed looking at the falls through the viewer...

Funny hat time!

Checking out the Lego display in Niagara Falls.

This is the CN Tower in Toronto. We had an awesome view of it from our hotel room.

The boys in our hotel room in Toronto.

The boys outside the Hockey Hall of Fame...

Hockey Hall of Fame fun!

Big Bro trying out some hockey moves!

Little Bro having fun playing hockey (simulated; not a real puck for him)

Climbing at the park at Presque Isle in Erie PA

Outside the Pufferbelly Restaurant in Erie PA (one of mom's favorite places from back in the day!)

Big Bro having fun at the ExpERIEnce Children's Museum

Little Bro having a blast at the ExpERIEnce Children's Museum

Both boys having a terrific time at the museum!

Little Bro checking out snails at Papa & G's winter place in The Villages

Little Bro enjoying a late night squirt gun fun at Sumter Village Square in The Villages, FL.

Big Bro waiting to get Little Bro with a surprise blast of water!!!

Little Bro riding his Kettler bike. This bike is awesome! it does not have pedals, so a young child learns to focus on balance and then, skips right over riding with training wheels. Little Bro is just about ready to go right into riding a regular two wheeler now. Since Big Bro got a new bike for his birthday, we now have a smaller bike to pass onto Little Bro. Yay!!!

The boys LOVE to ride their bikes at Papa and G's house in The Villages. Big Bro just got a new bike for his birthday, so that made it even more fun! We had such a fun time over Big Bro's birthday weekend. It was so nice, as we truly had a relaxing time just doing simple things like looking at snails, riding bikes, playing with chalk, having water fights, taking golf cart rides,  and going for frozen yogurt.

Big Bro opening some birthday presents. Thanks to the Grands and Papa and G!

Little Bro is wearing his super hero cape while he and Big Bro play in the sand!

Big Bro is drinking from a straw set that makes into a pair of glasses! Little Bro picked this out as a present for Big Bro for his birthday! Big Bro likes his present from Little Bro!

Playing at the pool back in our neighborhood! Fun times all month!!!

Hope to be back into the blogging groove soon...

We have just been having too much fun doing family things here!