Nature School: Shelters

I almost titled this "Nature school in the kinda sorta rain".  We were really hoping to have a constant (but light) rain to head out in and be able to observe the differences the weather caused.  Seeing as life doesn't always work out exactly as you plan (side lesson?) we ended up talking more about shelters.  It was amazing. 

Heading out into the wild.

Our goal was the rock formations we had spied a shallow
cave in last weekend.

We got distracted by cactus and talked about the plants defenses.

This one too.  Sharp!

Here is where we got to talking about shelters.  We talked about how these pockets in the rock would make great shelters for birds and other small animals.  So we had to check them out.

This pocket actually had a tiny tree growing in it.

A nice place to sit.

We came across a fallen tree and talked a little about what might have happened to it, who/what may have lived in it, and if they were still there.  This particular hole was very interesting.

It had hollowed out acorns in it.  Fisher determined (and he's very likely correct) that a squirrel had lived there and maybe still did.  This was pretty exciting for them.  We talked a lot about why a squirrel would make a nest in a tree.  For protection of course.  Fisher's exact words were "to keep them safe from predators".  I love that kid!

Double inspection of the squirrel nest.

These rock formations are so interesting.  It's like you're on another planet.

Planet Fisher?

I think this one is called giraffe rock.

That's close enough to the edge boy!

At last we made it to the cave we'd been searching for!  It was so exciting to finally get there.  It was maybe 8 to 10 feet off the ground with a nice slope right up to the front door. 

Fisher quickly got down to business.

My fearless explorer.

Guys!  Come check this out!

There's plenty of room for all of us!

After a little while (and some practice on lower and smaller pockets) Piper decided to go for it.  You should have heard her climbing up there.  "I can DO this, I can DO this, I can DO this."  She said that over and over again until she reached her brother.  It was fantastic.

She DID it and cheering ensued.

And her reward of an apple was quickly delivered.

And we snacked inside a CAVE!

And took even more pictures.

Group shot!

I flippin' LOVE Fisher's face in this one! 
That excitement and pride all rolled into one.

They were both SO proud of themselves for making it up there.  We had our snack and just hung out for a bit.  Talked more about shelters and why they were important.  Then they both left with the hope that we would one day get hopelessly lost and need to find our own shelter and get to sleep inside a cave.  We'll have to see about that...

One last look.

Nature school is by far our favorite thing ever.  Fisher always says "lets go discover something".  So that's your challenge - Go discover something!

JKFP