Morning Visitor

While sitting on my deck I heard something whiz by my head coming very close to hitting me. I discovered that it was one of the humming birds that have been coming to our honeysuckle bush every year for a few years now. My children have named him "Zippy" and he has become a seasonal pet that we look for every spring and feed all summer long. Whether or not it is actually the same humming bird is unknown, but my kids believe it is and get a kick out of watching for Zippy and taking care of him all summer. Zippy has become very accustom to us being on the deck because let's face it, my kids have yet to master the ability to be quiet for long periods of time. When I took these photos my son was playing on the deck and I was only a few feet away with nothing hiding me.

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)

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!

Fall is Here!

We couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. We spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful fall foliage. We went on a few hikes this weekend, and took some time to look at the color patterns in the leaves. My children even noticed that leaves have some similarities to snowflakes. No two are exactly the same and they too float down to the ground. Hoping the weather holds out for next weekend, we have some more local places that we want to explore. I would love to get up to the White Mountains, especially the Flume or Lost River, but I am not sure if that is going to happen before the foliage peak is over. If my family has weekend that isn't filled with sports activities, you know where we will be going! Until then we will use the smaller amounts of down time to enjoy what is right around us.

NH Polar Caves

We took a ride up to the White Mountains here in NH to go explore the Polar Caves. We had a blast. We hadn't been there in about 5 years, and I wish we had gone sooner. The sights were amazing and climbing through the caves and learning about the different minerals in the rocks was very interesting. We also visited the Maple Sugar Museum that was on their property. The old tools and machines they used to make maple syrup were amazing. I was nice to not only have a fun family outing, but I also had the opportunity to teach my children about history and geology. We read the signs that described what the minerals were in the rocks and how the caves were formed by glaciers. It was again a place that is in my own state that I had taken for granted and forgotten about. I encourage everyone to explore what is right around you. You will probably be surprised at what you will discover.

Little Bit of Everything

It has been a while since my last post. I have been enjoying being outdoors with my family. We have been doing a little bit of everything. Camping, hiking, beach, and so much more. I also have been putting together my website (www.treasuredmomentsbydaniele.com) when I have had some free time. Last week my children and I enjoyed a nice picnic dinner on the beach after work. It was so nice to do something different and enjoy the evening air outdoors. My children enjoyed it so much they want to do it again this week. This week we are going to go to a local state park, have our picnic, do a little hiking, and if it's warm enough a little swimming. Most places in my area do not charge an entrance fee after a certain time, so it is a very inexpensive way to enjoy the outdoors and it breaks up the weekly routine. We are probably going to make this a weekly event until it gets to cold (which I hope isn't for a long time!) Climbing the rocks at the beach

Dragonflies we saw on one of our hikes around a pond.

More pictures from the pond.

Summer Colors

Driving home from a family get together my son and daughter and I saw the rainbow below as we pulled on our road. Of course I had to pull over and take a picture. When I got home my son said "Mommy I am going to look for the pot of gold!" I love how excited he was about something occurring in the natural world. My daughter thought it was a good luck sign for a softball game she was in the next day. I felt very proud that both my children took time to look at the rainbow and appreciate it.

We Can't Control Everything

With all the technology and power we have, we still can not control everything. We have to make the best out of some situations.






A few years ago you would have never found me out in a thunderstorm trying to capture a picture of lightning. But as I continue to challenge myself to get better shots, I find and take opportunities that I would have never taken before. This is starting to trickle down to my children as well. The last storm we had, no one was scared and they almost enjoyed watching the lightning create different designs in the sky. (Of course the storms were not sever and it was safe for us to do so. There is a difference between taking a photographic opportunity and risking your safety.) After the storm we walked around our yard and noticed how interesting the raindrops looked on everything.

Memorial Day 2010

I usually blog about our natural world, but with today being
Memorial Day, I wanted to give thanks to all of those who have
served and are serving now. My family participated in our town's Memorial Day Parade. I thought it was going to be fun, but I had no idea that it would be so moving. It was a heart felt experience that taught my children the true meaning of Memorial Day. I think these pictures say it all.
Thank you!

Making Time

In a previous post I wrote about balancing our time and taking time to appreciate what is around us. I had to do this very consciously this past week. Both my children began their baseball and softball activities. They are fully enjoying it, however it has been a very challenging schedule for our family. Here are some pictures I took in my own yard.

This last picture I took while we were at one of my children's baseball games. Even then you can take a moment to notice things.