Climbing Mt. Monadnock, NH

Yesterday my family and I climbed to the summit of Mt. Monadnock located in NH. It was an experience that my children will remember for the rest of their lives and so will I. That was our first climb up the mountain and we met some wonderful people. At the summit we met another family who also had their 8 year old boy the was making his first summit climb. When he found out it was also my son's first trip to the summit of a mountain he put his hand out they congratulated each other. It was great to see other families getting outside together. My children came down with such a sense of accomplishment. My son kept saying he couldn't believe he did it. We talked about now that they have climbed a mountain, if they get overwhelmed at school by a test or schoolwork all they have to do is take a breath and say "I can do this, I climbed a mountain." I think this especially hit home for my son because he is very intelligent but struggles with severe dyslexia and gets overwhelmed quickly. This was just the kind of confidence booster he needed even though that wasn't part of the original plan. Doing something together that is a first for the whole family (it was my first time up Mt. Monadock too) really bonded us together. And I had a blast adding to some beautiful landscape pictures to my photography portfolio!

Some hiking side notes:

Please be prepared! My son is a cub scout so we used planning this as a way for him to earn a belt loop, but plan and pack appropriately. There were a lot of people going up without the proper gear if they were to get in trouble.

We researched the trails ahead of time, packed a lot of water in each of our backpacks, I had rope, compass, whistle, extra food, blanket, first aid kit, ace bandages, and bug spray in mine to name a few things. We also talked about hiker safety and ethic. We stayed on the trails, payed attention to what trail we were following (encouraging our children to find the next trail marker), we stayed together, and followed "Leave No Trace" by cub scouts.

Mt. Monadnock- is aprox 3200 in elevation. We followed the white dot trail up (little over 2 miles to summit) and the white cross trail down. Both trails have some pretty tough terrain where we had to use 3 points of contact to maneuver. It took us about 2 hours up and 1.5 coming down.

Dramatic Waterfalls are Not Just for Exotic Places

My family and I recently took a day trip to Crawford Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I had researched the location of some waterfalls in the area and decided to hike one of the trails to one of the waterfalls. The hike to the falls was very family friendly. My 8 yr old and 12 yr old had no problem hiking the 1.5 miles. They enjoyed going over the railroad tracks and then discovering all kinds of native plants and trees. We came across a few smaller waterfalls on the way too. We had never been here before and you could imagine our surprise as we turned the corner of the trail and came to this beautiful and enormous waterfall. My children were awe struck and my 8 yr old even said to me "I thought there were only waterfalls like that in Hawaii!". He wanted to make sure I took lots of pictures (of course) so that he could show his classmates at school. I encourage you to research what natural elements are in your area and take some time to go enjoy one!

Have an hour? Take a Hike!

This past weekend my children clearly needed something to do because they were making each other crazy. Who would think brothers and sisters do that? Anyways I told them we were going for a hike. With a little resistance they came, but as soon as we got to the park in town and took a few steps thier attitudes changed instantly. We didn't have a lot of time because we had plans later in the day, but you don't need a huge block of time to hike in your neighborhood. Our entire hike plus quick drive was about an hour long, but was so much more valuable in the interest it sparked in my children.

We quickly found a rock pile that my children enjoyed exploring and telling me about all the interesting facts they had been learning at school about the different types of rocks and minerals. Their rock and mineral itnersted continued through the entire hike and is something they are still talking about. We are planning on purchasing a field guide this weekend to take with us on our future hikes. My children went from not wanting to go to not being able to wait until our next one. Sometimes it getting children outside and away from the technology takes a little push, but they are usually very happy when the do!

Here are some pictures from our hike.

Don't forget Earth Day April 22nd! The Children and Nature Network has a link to search for acitivities that are happening in your area to get children outside. Check it out.

Click on one of the "Let's Go" Badges to the right to bring you there.

(Sorry for the delay in posts! Compurter problems)

It's Been a While but I am Back to Blogging

Wow, I can't believe I haven't made any posts since October! Life has been busy to say the least. Both my children have been involved in school sports, scouts, and my son has been diagnosed with a learning disability, most likely moderate dyslexia. So most of my time has been spent on the Basketball court side lines, being assistant leader to my son's cub scout den, and researching special education laws and learning strategies for dyslexia. ( I am considering starting another blog about what I have learned, and techniques I am trying with my son for other families that may be going through a similar experience.)

We had some wildlife visitors in our backyard visible through our kitchen window. We think they are after our chickens that we got last spring. Seeing these guys outside my kitchen window reminded me of the title of my blog "Outside Your Window" and made me realize I have been so busy taking care of everyone else I haven't been taking care of myself and the things I enjoy.

So I have made a point to get back outside with my camera (even though winter is in full force here in New England). I have been doing some hiking in the woods behind my house, and my children have joined me for some. They haven't gotten the whole quite in the woods to see the wildlife thing, but we have been able to see lots of tracks that we have identified and it has released some of their built up energy!

So here I am back to photography and blogging!

My son starting out on our hike and tracks we found in the snow.

Weekend Hiking

I decided to make it time to go hiking up in the White Mountains, NH this past weekend. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the foliage in all it's splendour. I was a little disappointed to see that I had missed the peak, but it was still absolutely beautiful. My children were amazed by the snow cap mountain peaks while they were only in sweaters at the base. We took a small hike at Franconia's Notch Waterfall Trail and then we Walked around at The Basin. My children got a kick out of following the river. My son noticed that part of the river looked like a natural waterslide. It's also funny how when we think of waterfalls we think of warm, exotic places. Until I picked up a NH hiking map, I didn't even know how many waterfalls were in my home state, and they are just as beautiful. I can't wait to explore and photograph more of them!

First Spring Hike

It began to warm up here in southern NH, at least for a short time. My children and I took a quick hike in the woods behind our house. I wasn't sure how much there would actually be to see this early in the season, but we were pleasantly surprised. What was really nice about this hike was that we really had to look to find interesting things. It was exhilarating to finally see things starting to grow.

This rock was interesting. It brought up a conversation of how the plants are growing on the rock. My children had their hypothesis. One thought that the plants were growing all the way through the rock, the other thought they were a type of plant that did not need soil to grow. We investigated a little closer to find out the real answer.

Another great thing about hiking this time of year is that the weather is tolerable, and because the leaves are not on the trees yet, there are a lot of interesting sights that are visible. Some which you maybe wouldn't see if the leaves were fully grown.

We stopped and observed this tree for a short time (as short amount of time as two young children can stand still and quiet) to see if we could see some wildlife poking it's head out of the hole in this tree. Unfortunately we didn't get to see anything this time, but we will be making plenty of visits back.

My children think that the near by owl we have been hearing in the evenings is living in here. We will have to see!

We became real excited when we first saw this bird flying. We thought it could have been an eagle, but when we looked at the picture we realized it was a Turkey Vulture. Not as exciting, but still very impressive in size.

I took this picture because when I saw this seedling next to a fallen tree trunk I thought of the terms "renewal" and "rebuild". Much like this year has been for my family. Nature shows us that things always have a way of balancing out.