Category Archives: Nature
The Husband Clan’s Geocaching
The Husband Clan’s Geocaching
June 8, 2011
We have taken up a new hobby, Geocaching! For those who don’t know what it is, this is how it is described on the box of my new Magellan eXplorist GC GPS:
“Geocaching is a high-tech version of the game “hide and seek”, where adventure seekers use GPS technology to hide and find physical objects, solve location-based puzzles, and share experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people of all ages and promotes a strong sense of community and support for the environment”
One video I watched on Geocaching a lady said, “ It is a way to get nerds out into the wilderness.” I thought that fit me pretty good, even though my kids are undecided if I am a nerd or a geek.
Basically, (in the simplest form) what you do is get at least a basic free membership to www.geocaching.com and put in your address to look up the nearest cache and either send it to your GPS or get the iPhone app (the app logs the caches for you.) Then drive in your car and just follow the directions until you get close, hop out and look for a cache. Sign the log book, trade trinkets if able, and log it onto the Geocaching website and poof you found your first cache.
I was officially labeled the “The Nag-a-gator”, now to explain this: I have control of the iPhone or GPS and tell them where to try to look. Of course, I am supposed to be “the navigator” but a bad pronunciation and a little humor from my husband, I am now “The Nag-a-gator.”
Guided Hike ~Sundew Trail~
Guided Hike ~Sundew Trail~
May 13, 2011
I was looking around on the Beaumont Community Calendar hunting for something to do with the family when I saw there was going to be a guided hike on the Sundew Trail. I was excited, we had just studied about carnivorous plants in Science and the Sundew Trail had the Pitcher Plants and the Sundew plants which are both carnivorous. Although we had been to the Sundew Trail before it was in the fall and with the change of the seasons each trail can offer new and interesting things to study.
When we arrived at the trailhead no one was there. The hike was suppose to start at 10 A.M. so we waited a little while. The kids occupied themselves taking pictures of random critters around the pavilion.
Botany Test ~Monocots and Dicots~
Botany Test ~Monocots and Dicots~
May 5, 2011
Being the “not so typical school” that we are, when we test we usually end up with something like this:
After reading in our Apologia Science Book “Exploring Creation with Botany” Lesson 2 ~Seeds~ and learning about monocots and dicots we needed to see if the kids understood what we went over. So out to a hiking trail we went!.
A monocot has a single cotyledon (seed part) like a piece of corn and a dicot has two parts like a bean. If the seed is not present you can look at the leaves to tell; monocots have parallel veins running vertically along the leaf (like grass) and a dicot has the “net” of veins spreading out from the main center vein (like most plants have). Monocot’s flowers usually have petals in sets of threes, where dicots have petals in sets of fours or fives.
“OK we are ready!” I don’t think I have to worry to much about them “freezing up” before a test!
Springs, Swings, and Things
Springs, Swings, and Things
May 3, 2011
Boykin Springs is one of our favorite places to visit for a quick hike. Today we went because a friend of mine had asked if we knew the condition of the park so of course I went to check it out. You know me, any excuse to hike!
A picture of me and my baby boy. I fussed at Stewart for never getting a picture of me and Adam.
Canyon Rim
Canyon Rim
April 24, 2011
We woke first thing in the morning hoping to get a hike in before the heat became to intense. The summer-like weather in the spring has made me wish we were back in the winter. On top of the heat, there is no rain. Everything is so dry and fire danger is very high. All winter I was looking forward to the spring with the flowers and birds and all but now I am disappointed. We decided last night to head toward Newton to check out some trails we found online. We chose the Canyon Rim trail to take on. We thought we would get in a couple hikes today. Of course, we were thinking that before we arrived at any of them.
Oh Happy Daze 