Nature Walk

I went on a nature walk with Beth's class the other day. Things like this are one of my favorite parts of being a mom. I love how little kids see the world around them.
We started out at the school, where the kids all held onto a loop on a long leash to keep them together. I could have used one of those when I had 5 walking children under the age of 8.
This cat saw us coming and came running out to say hello. Enthralled with this friendly kitty, the kids made it a point to say hello to all the kitties and doggies they saw along the way.
Their teachers asked them questions about how the leaves got on the ground and other natural phenomonon to pique their collective interests.
Then a little boy noticed "the bee's holes" in the tree and the kids all chatted about the bees that must live there a little bit.
I think that might have disturbed the squirrel who has been filling the tree with his winter nuts.
We walked on...
and noticed that somebody feels the speed limits should be increased.
The kids kept seeing the "eagles"(hawks) that were circling overhead in quest of a tasty morning snack. Maybe that is why the squirrel was clinging to that branch and trying to stay uncharacteristically still. (We do have lots of bald eagles around, though.. they just don't come to town to hunt.)
The kids also enjoyed the water tower, but their favorite site to see was... of all things... the water meter covers. I should have taken a picture, but Beth wanted me to hold her hand at that point. They kept pointing the covers out every time we walked by one.
We saw some November roses blooming on a porch.
And then they all stopped to have their picture taken with the big Christmas tree.
We rounded the corner, and Beth showed everybody the church. I noticed somebody was heading towards the office, so I gave Beth a kiss good-bye and the group walked the remaining half-block back to the school. Here is a good example of why we participated in the sidewalk-building program. The town really needs some on at least some of the streets to give the kids a safer place to walk.
I picked Beth up a couple of hours later to come home, and as we passed our neighbor's pasture it became clear that she had really grabbed onto the concept of looking at the animals closely. "Look, Mommy!" she piped up, "That cow has a freckle butt! Take a picture of its freckle butt , Mommy!"
And I just couldn't take a picture of the freckled-butt cow without sharing it with you. Your life is complete now, isn't it?