Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 13

Today is our last day participating in the outdoor challenge.
Here's wishing you many days of outdoor wonder and amazement this year!

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 12

Sometimes being out means looking up and just saying "Wow!"

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 11

My favorite thing about spring is happening:She's eating leafy greens again. In a way she would never eat them in the house,
she picks and eats pea vines voraciously. One of the main reasons I grow a little food each year is so my little one will eat something fresh and green everyday.

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 10

After a long day of mostly being inside
I remembered we were doing the "challenge."
These 20 minutes
were full of the most solace and peace all day

It doesn't take much,
one little tree provides so much learning

and fun!
Now, onto work that involves gloves
The great search for a worm
Papa?

"Look at the worm I found Papa!"
as the bus driver pulls away with a big smile.

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 9

Piggy Wags
Just another day at playschool.

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 8

A nettles foraging adventure in the North Cascades:

A hood full

the kids ran free
a magical cabin in the woods

Our meals tasted better outside

We were grateful to be fed so well

bleeding hearts decorate the table
One more jump in the mud
before we say goodbye!

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 7

New arrivals at little Ita's school

One free range pet piggy to hang out with free range kids, chickens and bunny

We parents spent the afternoon at a work party
making sure to keep the critters out of the organic garden

I'm very proud of my little fence.

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 6

The wind whispers secrets about a nearby pond

Families gather for the special event

The guest of honor arrives with a procession of smiles
The young ones watch with wonder and curiosity
A baby green darner dragonfly has been born!

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 5

The sun returned
shirts off
"I need some Vitamin D!" he says
me too says she

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 4

It rained during her outing with Papa
When I met up with them she was asleep on his back
I attempted to support her head with the attachment hood
To no avail
She's grown too big for it
But never to big to sleep soundly,
amidst the noise of the world on Papa's back

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 3

She was delighted to bring in our salad again tonight.

(and I was ecstatic that she actually ate salad last night)

more kale flowers direct from the stroller to kitchen... and there's always the search for dog droppings too.

Outdoor Challenge ~ Day 2

She asked if she could pick from the garden with me and I said, "Sure!"

Proud of a stroller full of fennel

Hmmm... what to do with all that fennel?

Why cut it up into small pieces of course, while Mama makes edible flower salad.Take a picture of your child outside everyday this month
(what's left of it) and join the challenge at 5 Orange Potatoes!

Love Your Yard, Outdoor Challenge Day ~ 1

... our young people are more aware of threats to the global
environment than they are of the natural world in their own backyards.

- David Elkind author of the NY Times article Playtime is Over,
in reference to Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods

This door leads directly outside. Now this may seem like a simple idea, but we live in a condo and there are three doors we must pass through to get out to ground and grass. This simple pleasure has been our way of life for the last two weeks while we house-sat. In honor of April being Children and Nature Awareness Month, a few reasons why I adore having a door that leads directly outside:

• Little Ita can walk the dog all by herself. She has never in her life been able to just walk out the door with the dog on leash, whenever she wants. A delightful independent pleasure indeed. Even if it's 6:30 at night and she wants to sit quietly for a while and watch the sun set behind the trees... while I do dishes at the sink. (I now fully understand the genius behind communities that design kitchen sink windows to look out at childrens' play areas.)
  
• Once outside, there is a yard. Not just any old yard, but a safe, fenced in, beautiful, large yard with room to play and run. If you have one, please give it some extra love from us today. Yards are good for children and we are loving this one all up for a few more days.
• Whenever the feeling arises, Little Ita can put her bare feet in the grass.
• There's even a cob pizza oven for the grown-ups to play with!

Take a picture of your child outside everyday this month (what's left of it) and join the challenge at 5 Orange Potatoes!