spring (at least for the moment)

this past weekend was gorgeous with weather in the 50s. so i took elenora to appleton farm for a little hike. it wasn't as muddy as i had thought it might be. mostly because we haven't really had a lot of rain or snow lately.

i told her i used to pretend these pine needles were brooms and showed her how to brush them on the ground. she liked that.

here's my little gatherer-of-small-things. we found what might be beech nuts or something that were fun to gather and even more fun to throw into a stream we came alongside of because the shells floated like little boats.

i was able to show her what burrs are and how they stick to things in order to spread seeds.

here we are, coming up to the stream. it was so clear and beautiful.

when i was looking for something else for ella to throw into the stream, i saw what i thought was a dead turtle. i asked elenora if she would like to see a dead turtle, and she said "yes" without hesitation, so i timidly pushed its shell with a stick and it started to move. i picked it up and held it for ella to see, and she thought it was adorable. she even held it gently in her hands.

when we tossed various things into the stream, i asked ella to predict whether they would float or sink (the beech nuts, a stick, a pine cone, and a rock) and she guessed right on all of them.