Last weekend ~ Our bird club held its summer picnic. My project was to have the kids that attended make nature journals. It was fun putting the project together, and the ‘kids’ (from 7 to 82) all had fun with it. It also inspired me to take out my own nature journal and do some sketching.
This week ~ Something that required pre-planning. One day, I went on a field trip to the town where I went to college, which is about an hour from here. After college, I worked for a couple of years at the municipal museum, which includes an historic village. It was one of the most satisfying experiences in my life. The village included a number of buildings, and it was just getting started, so there were lots of projects including painting, chinking cabins, planning gardens. My job included giving tours, working with school groups. Now, the village is celebrating its 50th anniversary and it has grown so much! I enjoyed my day visiting, went to the downtown museum as well, which is now housed in the old newspaper building, and is all new and so beautifully done.
Favorite things ~
- Root beer floats at the bird club picnic.
- An afternoon at the local waterpark with Dan, Emily and Bentley
- Early morning walks, and coming home to a breakfast prepared by my daughter - omelets and avocado toast.
- Free tomato plants offered by a kindhearted gardener in the neighborhood.
Favorite places ~ We went back to our new favorite campsite for a couple of nights on Wednesday and Thursday. Emily joined us. We tried a new nature trail, made s’mores and fajitas on the campfire, and there were so many different kinds of wildflowers in just the few weeks since we were there last.
I hope you all had a good week as well. Happy Saturday 🌞🍔🍺
It sounds like a beautiful week!
ReplyDeleteI kind of miss camping......
I love early morning walks.
I'm like you....I need to be a bit more intentional, other than hikes, in doing some fun summer things that I've always wanted to do but just haven't.
How fun to go back to your college town for a visit and see the changes!
Like you, I'm working on being intentional about those 'free' days. It's a good feeling when evening arrives and I've actually accomplished something.
ReplyDeleteYour camping trip sounds wonderful.
I agree that Iowa is a beautiful place. Sometimes the states in the 'middle' are ignored, but there is so much beauty and history. Do you drive through northwest Iowa to get to WI? My mom was born in Cresco.
Have a good week!
We’ve been to the Effigy Mounds near Cresco! We try to take a different route each time — the only part of the state we haven’t been through is the southeastern portion. The last trip we went through the Loess Hills in western Iowa. The Winterset area is always a favorite, too. And we visited the Herbert Hoover museum one year. So much to see!
DeleteSounds like a great week! I agree, I like that balance between planning and going at a leisurely pace. We don't get to some things we want to do if we don't plan for them. How fun to go to the reunion of the place where you used to work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely week! Those journals looks amazing and I'm sure many will be keepers. How fun that you worked in a historical village in your youth and that you got to go back and visit it again. Root beer floats remind me of childhood.
ReplyDeleteKaren, this post just radiates summer joy. I love how intentional you’re being about savoring the season — the bird club picnic, the nature journals, the field trip back to your college town, and those early morning walks with omelets waiting at home. Your week sounds full of simple, meaningful moments. Such a lovely read.
ReplyDeleteJut added your blog to my blogs to visit list so I can follow along :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carrie! I’ll come by and visit you ;)
DeleteYou've given me a great idea to do with my two youngest grandchildren (5 and 7). I'll be looking after them on Mondays during the summer and those nature journals sound like a great project. Did you come up with it on your own or is there a link I could visit with instructions? I could probably figure it out from the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of being intentional about summer, and I've been thinking about things I want to do. It's such a short, intense season that can pass by too quickly. Savouring the season is important!
Lorrie, I searched Nature Journals for Kids on Pinterest and several ideas were similar to this one. I’m not sure which one I eventually went with, but you are right, you could definitely figure it out!
DeleteThanks, Karen!
DeleteSounds like you've had some nice outings and fun lately! Brian and I did one of our short day trips yesterday - we went to the farmer's market, out to lunch, visited one of my favorite independent shops, then had iced coffee (me) and iced tea (Brian) at an independent coffee roaster/chocolate shop. (And yes, I did come home with a few of their handmade truffles!) Brian's bday is next month and we're hoping for a weekend getaway, maybe in MI.
ReplyDelete