As I was rushing to get a walk in before the rain, it hit me that today was April 9 and on that date one year ago, we had just finished a month in lockdown. School ended here March 9th and virtual school still had not really started and never really did. I now had my three grandsons for about 10 hours a day. My school teacher mind took over and I set school up in dining room with a schedule of what we would do each day. March was very rainy but we were outside every day in the puddles, picking up worms etc. mid April the weather improved and we hurried thru Mimi school to get outside. I am so grateful that I lived where I do. We took long walks at least twice a day. In the morning we walked the golf cart paths, I walked pushing the 3 year old and the 4 and 6 year old scootered or rode bikes. These were never before explored places. We saw swans, ducks, geese, backyard birds, the snapping turtle pond picked cat tails, climbed trees and ran through the grass. We rolled down hills. The golf course was shut down and they allowed us to walk. After quiet time. we headed to the Stewardship Forest which is part of a business campus near my development. We took our scooters and stroller and snacks and off we went. When we hit the forest trail we left or vehicles and walk. There was something new to see every day! We counted trees in rows, looked for shapes and letters in branches, explored dead tree trunks and had mini science lessons. We turned over rocks, trunks etc and looked for frogs and insects. We saw red fox and loads of deer and eventually baby fox and fawns. We found more snakes! We took pictures and came home and looked things up or bought books from Amazon to learn more. Some days we played red light green light or mother May I? They learned to play hopscotch and we made elaborate obstacle courses on the driveway. We painted rocks and sticks, built a mini dam in a little stream! We got very wet sometimes and very dirty other times. On rainy days we built indoor obstacle courses and forts. We baked! Now that we are back in the five day a week drop off at school routine (it took until late January) I realized today how much non school learning and fun we had! Most days now my walks are alone and I do enjoy them but today when I saw the Stewardship Forest Sign, I felt very nostalgic! Those were such precious times although at the time exhausting! May we all stay healthy and keep walking!

Posted by cindyweinrich at 2021-04-09 15:45:17 UTC