Macros at the Arboretum

Last week, Annika's class took a trip to the arboretum near UW as part of their study of plants and their life cycles. I was fortunate enough to be able to go as a chaperone and am so glad I did. The kids were great and it was such fun to watch them learn from the arboretum staff as we wandered around the beautiful and lush grounds.

Honestly, we couldn't have gotten any luckier with the weather. It was warm and sunny the entire day. The muddy ground here and there was the only nod to the massively wet weather we've experienced lately. The kids shucked their coats and enjoyed the warm sun on their arms and faces for a bit. (What a novelty!!)

Before you wonder, yes, I did take photos of the kids and paid attention to them. In fact, I took a crazy amount of photos, but to respect the privacy of the non-my-child kiddos, I won't post any of them here.

That said, I did take a few moments here and there to snap some macro shots of the various flowers along the way, too. (Don't all field trip chaperones sling two cameras across their bodies while out with the students?)

Enjoy!

Yellow azalea

Pink azalea

Mushroom trio

Curly fern

Fuzzy fern

Teeny, tiny daisy

White rhodedentron

Shroom in profile  - up close and personal 

Reaching New Heights

Last week, the kids were off from school due to parent/teacher conferences and Thanksgiving. They had a great time relaxing and recharging their batteries a bit.

Eric and I took turns being home with the kids during the first three days of their break. (We were off Thursday and Friday, so that was easy!) Eric opted to take Monday off instead of working from home (what I did Tuesday and Wednesday), so he and the kids loaded up on fun stuff. Annika had been asking to go rock climbing for a few weeks and Monday seemed like a great opportunity for that to become a reality.

Eric loaded up the kids and headed down to the Stone Gardens climbing wall in Ballard. The kids donned their climbing shoes and hit the wall with gusto. Conor was content to stick closer to the lower and middle portions while working on his confidence, footing, and grips. Annika, on the other hand, had no qualms about scaling the wall and even making it to an overhang area. Both kids did a great job and, per the periodic texts and photos I received from Eric, had a fun time. Annika is now gung ho on rock climbing and wants to take lessons. Conor says he wants to take lessons, too, but we aren't as sold on his enthusiasm quite yet.

After they kids finished up at the climbing wall, everyone piled back into the car, stopped at Dick's for lunch, and then headed home for some R&R. When I got home from work, it was such fun to hear them regale me with stories of their day and their rock climbing experience.

I love that the kids got to have a special date with Eric. Too often, I hear about fathers who aren't involved in their kids' lives (for a variety of reasons), and I feel so blessed to have a husband who is also an active father. He wants to be part of their lives.... and there is nowhere else the kids would rather have him!