We continue to visit the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre, where Makinley's friend Knut the black bear lives. Recently, we were there to celebrate the release of an eagle back to it natural habitat.
We have all gained in our braveness, and now happily pick up crabs at the beach, even the big ones!
Then there was the day we took off to discover if indeed the goslings had hatched yet! First we were greeted by hummingbirds whom we suspected had a nest near by as they were flying dangerously close to our heads. There was an army of ants clambering around beneath a Cherry Tree. Geese were about, however no goslings. The adventure took a new turn, when our hockey ball rolled in the river and we tried in earnest to retrieve it as the current swept it away. That evening, we set out on another 1.5 hour hike to find where the river meets the ocean to see if our ball was there. Again, no ball, but lots of beautiful scenery.
And then there was the crazy snow fall, that left us wondering what the heck was going on. The boys reaction, much kinder then mine, was one of seizing the moment!!
As a family, we went to Top Bridge for a long Off Trail Hike. Because of the off road nature of our travels, we did encounter some fresh tracks (without human prints around) which we later identified as belonging to a cougar!! This scared Mommy a bit, however, was a great fascination to the boys.
In celebration of Earth Day, Mitchel organized a clean up of a local Mountain (Little Mountain). We put it out to the local home learning community and were thrilled when eight other children showed up to help out. Mitchel's summary of the whole event was "I am glad I organized this." It was truly inspiring to see him delight in his accomplishment.
There have been many more highlights that escape me now , lots of livin', laughin' learnin' lovin!! Oh yes and hockey, hockey, hockey!! Thanks to the local Thrift Store Mitchel continues to add to his pile of gear!
