Things I had forgotten about

I feel like this is a common theme in my blog:  Oh, here are some cute pictures of stuff that I forgot about.  I blog more about things that happened six months ago than stuff that's happening right now.  Oh well.  At least it's recorded even if it's not chronological.

Without further ado, I present:  "Things Forgotten..."

Wingaersheek Beach, May 3, 2013:
We went to the beach really early in the season this year.  After my successful surprise beach outing, we thought it might be nice to go to the beach without the hassle of swimming suits and sun gear.  We were glad we brought the sun umbrella though (a last minute addition to the van) because we ended up using it as a wind shield.  It was quite chilly with that strong sea breeze blowing off the icy water.

Lauren (red) and Kate (yellow) enjoying the sand toys.

Armando and Kate (the yellow jacket was too thin, we had to add one of Nicholas' old fleece jackets to keep her warm)

Lou squatting for warmth, but still smiling! :)

Nicholas...in pajamas, of course.  Who says it's not appropriate beach attire?

K

L and Armando

oops, somehow we lost the pajama pants.  I guess naked is slightly more beach appropriate than jammies. 

Foraging Adventure at Minute Man National Park, April 24, 2013:

I took the kids to Minute Man National Park back in April to begin my new budding interest: foraging.  Foraging is identifying, harvesting, and consuming edible wild plants from nature.  I was NOT intending to harvest or consume anything this season--- I'm merely dipping my toes in the sea of information.  I wanted to go around in early spring and identify plants with my field guides.  Then, in theory, I was going to keep an eye on these plants through the season to see if they developed the way I thought they would (to further prove the identity).  Anyway, I brought my camera along to snap some pictures of plants, and got some cute ones of the kids.  Nicholas rode his bike and I pushed the girls in the stroller.  

I think this is a patch of skunk cabbage, not sure though because I didn't see any flowers.

Japanese Knotweed

Daylilies.  Pretty sure on this one as they all had bright orange flowers later in the summer.

Lauren snacking on a granola bar.

Nicholas the Pirate

Kate... no idea what she's doing.

aah, I see...it was the precursory squat to the excited jump.  

Kate and shoes, never ending story. 

Lauren and shoes

Jumping Nicholas

King of the rock

Lauren throwing leaves around

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I KNOW I've seen this in a field guide before, but I cannot find it again.  Bugged.

And onion grass, of course :)  Who knows if that's the technical term, but this plant (along with "pickle flowers" [aka wood sorrell] are the two plants that I feel 100% comfortable eating because I learned how to identify them when I was 6 on a field outing with Jane and the other awesome Montessori teacher in Batesville).  I spent countless summers eating pickle flours and sucking on onion grass before I even realized I was foraging :) 

Nicholas is truly part of the tactile family.  He loved running his hands over the raised lettering on this plaque.  Then, to my surprise, he started picking out the letters to his name.  "Mom, it's a "N" like in "Nicholas!"  Awesome.

Tons of Garlic Mustard.