Generally, we have at most two outings a week in order to maintain a sense of peace and rhythm in our home. This week, however, had us out of the house almost every day.
We went to a provincial park beach, where I commented to my friend how nice it is to be around kids who know how to play. We moms simply set our blankets down, sipped iced coffee brought along in a thermos, and watched the children get down to the work of learning through play and exploration. The important work of collecting and inspecting insects, leeches, and other marsh creatures ensued. A group of the kids worked on a dam of sorts, collaborating, problem solving, and simply engaging in being and working together.
Our crew was excited to find and identify poison ivy and get some photos of it for future reference.
The kids love the Nature Playground at one of our city parks, where they can swing, climb, play with sand and water (more dam-making), and explore. It’s a great blend of playground and natural green space.
Another local treasure is the St. Norbert Art’s Centre, with it’s overflowing permaculture gardens. We hunted for stinging nettle, climbed willows, tasted rhubarb, and took in the sights, smells, and sounds on the property. Milo had an unfortunate run-in with what is likely wood or stinging nettle, and got an instant and painful rash, which we alleviated with our favorite salve and it cleared up within a couple hours. When the nearby splash pad was sadly found closed, we ended up stopping for ice cream cones, which was a welcome alternative. There is just this one place that we know of where we can get our tall order of dairy-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, and egg-free ice cream! They make a delicious coconut based soft serve, and have new flavors all the time. This week we had strawberry-guava-chocolate. Yum.
Wow! That is a fun-filled week! Have not taken the kids to the first two places in a long time! It was great to hang out and go for ice-cream. That will be a regular treat destination this summer for sure:)