Nature Play Day

There is a place a few towns over that has lots of nature activities for children.  What's even better, they claim one of these events is even appropriate for 1 year olds.  I was intrigued and willing to brave the 45 minute drive to get out there.  I dressed Little Miss in play clothes and had her nap in the car so we could get there in time.  It did not disappoint.  

The first activity was using fish nets to scoop toys out of a kiddie pool.  Other kids loved this and challenged their friends to see who could scoop up the most toys.  I knew that activity was too advanced for my sweet pea, but thought she'd at least like splashing in the water.  Instead, she was just content to look at it.  That's her pink shoe you see in the photo.

Okay, no problem...plenty of other activities to choose from.  I looked across the pavilion and spied mud painting.  Perfect, I thought!

Really what happened was just holding the paint brush before returning it to the bucket and splashing her hand in the muddy water. She never actually touched brush to paper, even after I modeled it for her. Ok, strike 2.  However, all was not lost.  The next activity was probably the most successful of the day- hula hoops.

Not exactly nature-y, but if it makes her happy to be outside, then I'm in full support.  Off we went to an outdoor chalkboard.

Not a super shot, but it's difficult to hold her in one hand and take pictures with the other.

See those three dots in front of the caterpillar?  That's my Picasso:)  There was an area where some kids were climbing a tree, but we skipped that.  Next it was off for a very short hike.

She stopped to check out a log.

She stopped to play with some gravel.

We came around to a big dirt hill.  We found an orange truck and she enjoyed watching me roll it down the hill.  I would roll it and she would retrieve it and hand it back to me.  It was a good deal until it stopped half way.  This was as far as she got before her sense of balance would allow her to go no further.

It was fun, but I'm glad that we got there on time because it only lasted an hour.  We had a picnic lunch and then headed back home.  It was enough driving that I think if we go again we'll need to find something else down there to extend our day.  

I'll close with this.  As we walked back to our car, Little MIss stopped to give it a pet.  I'm not sure why she does this, but she's also started to do it to parked cars in driveways around our neighborhood.  At least with the neighborhood cars she stays at the rear bumper.  She really amuses me, that one.