Colorado National Monument

A few weeks ago, during National Parks Week, we loaded up the kids, my little sister and brother, and the dog, and headed to Colorado National Monument.  It was free, and we had to be nearby that day, anyway, so we took advantage of the chance.

It was sunny but cool, and up on the edge the breeze was chilly.  We drove part-way through the park, and then turned around and looked for somewhere to hike.  The whole drive, from entrance to visitor's center, could take an hour or so, more if you stop to take pictures very often.  We didn't have a lot of time, so true to form, we chose to hike rather then drive.

We got out a couple of different places to walk a bit and look out over the edge.  The view was pretty, and the rock formations amazing.  There are lots of different canyons, cliffs, and other formations in the park.  We took our lunch when we set out for the longer hike.  We were hoping to see a waterfall, as there are several along that part of the trail.

We sat down on some rocks for lunch, and enjoyed the view.  We were about halfway t the waterfall.  Later we found out that the waterfall was just the "first pool", so the real waterfall must be quite a bit more spectacular.  It was another mile or so, and we didn't have time to go that far although the kids were all disappointed.  We will definitely have to go back some day with more time, and more water.  

We even got in a little nature study, as we found several varieties of wildflowers and these little caterpillers just crawling out of their egg sack.  They were living in a bit of silk which was spun around the end of a tree branch.  

We only saw a tiny fraction of the park.  It isn't as big as some, but still big enough that it needs a whole day or even a weekend to really see it all.  We had a great day exploring some places we had never been and spending time together giggling, eating, and enjoying each other.  I can't wait to go back again! 

Nature Study- Sunflowers

We have been trying to get our sunflower study finished up while they are still blooming. The kids have really enjoyed this one! We saw lots of butterflies all over the flowers, and talked about how most of the flowers have quit blooming so they have to eat where ever they can.

We looked at wild sunflowers, and then we found a flower head that had grown from birdseed, and brought it inside to look at. We saw the amazing difference between wild sunflower seeds and domesticated seeds. This was also a good chance to talk about annuals and perennials and seed dispersal again.