I have been leading spring wildflower hikes for kids and families. Ava and Rosemary have declared that they would prefer to have hikes where Mommy doesn't name things. A few more flower hikes are scheduled. Photos from hikes that have already happened are here. I will continue to add kid flower hike photos to that folder. 

We donated our ponytails to Locks of Love. The girls charmed the entire salon. Photos here.

 

We had a great Memorial Day weekend backpacking trip with friends: the Crow Pass traverse, from the Eagle River Nature Center to the trailhead outside of Girdwood: 22 miles, 3100 feet elevation gain, over 3 days. The kids were strong. We're so very proud of them. Wildflowers and weather exceeded expectations. We saw a lot of bears, all from a safe distance: a mama brown bear with cubs, and 7 black bears. The smallest kids, including Rosemary, and a dog crossed Eagle River in a packraft. Rosemary found the experience very inspiring and now aspires to more rafting adventures. We walked across snow up to and over the pass on the last day. Pictures from the trip are here. 

After a particularly long and steep snowfield traverse, Rosemary came up with a new song ("We did it without dying").

Rosemary delighted with a purring cat. This is in contrast to a scratching cat, which is the point to which Rosemary usually pushes the cat. So purring is a nice change.

Rosemary and Sprig invented a game. Photos here.

Ava and I made felted flowers for teacher gifts for the last day of school.

I have been leading several nature walks in the woods by the school for Ava's class. The final walk during the last week of school was special. They had a scavenger hunt to find all of the plants and structures that we had learned about. They also collected nature treasures with which to make ephemeral art, like Andy Goldsworthy, whom they had studied in class. I was too busy during the woods walks to take photos of the scavenger hunt, but I got photos of the nature art construction: photos here. Rosemary assisted.

Rosemary and neighbor friends in a moment of positive interaction. Homemade lemonade. 

We went to Seward for Mother's Day weekend. We car camped. We went whale watching on a tour boat, which was quite successful: porpoises, orcas, a humpback whale, sea lions, seals, cool sea birds. I don't have photos of whale watching. On Mother's Day, Daddy took the kids to the Sea Life Center while I hiked on Caines Head. Daddy didn't take any photos. The camping and solo hike photos are here.