In Holly's little exploration garden we have put in a small frog bog. Just a mucky like little pond with water plants, dirt, rocks, snails, tadpoles, sticks, grasses, etc. In essence we are trying to replicate a small natural pond that frogs are attracted to.... and kids are attracted to as well! The little critters are doing well and seems very happy in their new home. We check them out daily to make sure they are good, feed them some boiled down bits of lettuce once in a blue moon to ensure they are eating, take count of how many critters we have and look for snail trails. It is a fun daily stop during our day.
Well, yesterday we spotted a tadpole who has already developed their back legs! We have frog legs! Holly was beyond excited and thrilled that her little critters are growing and changing. We are all excited! We will be really keeping an eye on them now to see how they all change, grow and pick their new homes. I am beyond thrilled we decided to include this little frog bog in her garden as it has been such a treat and a wonderful educational opportunity for us all!
We spent the weekend over at Anderson Island to visit with Grandpa Hawk, take in the serene slowed down life it the island has to offer, enjoy some local sites and play in the water. Saturday afternoon we headed over to the island farm to explore. While there Holly enjoyed a grass maze, which was perfect height for her to venture out into and have some fun. We checked out a bunch of old farm buildings and rusty ol' equipment, took a small nature trail to see the few ponds on the property and checked out the chickens and gardens. 
Sunday morning we started out morning out at the island fire station pancake breakfast. This is a nice little community event with pretty good pancakes, you get to eat breakfast inside the fire station, see all the cool equipment, meet fire men, and best of all - personalized tours of the fire engines.... can't beat that! Only in a small town!
Holly also spent a long time out enjoying her new sprinkler toy. The sun was just warm enough to truly enjoy some early season water play. The afternoon was filled with Daddy, Grandpa Hawk and me attempting to get Holly wet... not sure who won that one. But we all had a nice time and I picked up some great shots of Holly enjoying the water. 
The weekend was finished with a special dessert and drink down at the restaurant and some quick fishing on the dock! A wonderful, fun filled weekend 'for sure, for sure'!!!
After the animals we did their little eye-spy trail which was fun for the kids. Each child had their own little card with everything they were to find, it became a challenge as to who could find the items first. For us moms though, it became a muddy mess. I suppose we should have all been alerted when the name of the trail was 'Mucky Moose', but no... we paid no mind. Well, let me just share - it was mucky, very mucky! And, since the weather is sunny and 70 most of us were in sandals or flip flops... not a good combination for the Mucky Moose trail. *sigh* Yes, my flip flop became stuck in the muck - very similar to the children's book 'Stuck Duck'. My mucked flip flop stayed behind as the rest of me continued... offering up one mucky foot. Thanks for rescuing the lone flip flop Jennifer!
Our day was finished with some preschoolers fishing... I am sure this puts a great image in your head. Pretty much how you imagined it to be, is how it was. Lot's of hurrying, scurrying, squeals, 'I can do it', 'Ick', netting, almost falling in, netting again, oops a wet foot now... the list goes on. It was fun though, a great memory for the adults at least! Holly caught a trout, reeled it in and refused to touch it. I coached her to just try it once, that was enough. She did great though and had fun! She even helped net her friends fish for her. Holly carried her bucket proudly to the cleaning station after her and friend compared fish... we now have a trout in the fridge. We'll how she likes it for dinner. 
