St. Vrain State Park

ST.VRAIN State Park

After thought: The kids also enjoyed throwing rocks in the pond. I was hoping to find a nice flat one to show the kids how to skip rocks, but none were to be found. I enjoyed hearing Mr. A's observations on the ripples that were created.

After Mr. J's Speech Therapy we headed North on I-25 intending to pay another visit to Red Rocks, but we got stuck in a Commuter lane. Yes, I said stuck. This one barriers off from other traffic and you just can't get on and off as you please, it is intended only those of those who intend to head North on I-25 towards Boulder and Ft. Collins, so I was unable to get off at I-70 and head west towards Golden and where Red Rocks is. Mr. A really wanted to go to Red Rocks again and while I have this drive to visit new places, I hate to squander any excitement for any place.

One thing we learned on this little excursion is the value of brown signs in this state. While driving along an Interstae or even on the city roads a brown sign has the potential to lead you to an adventure and I, being one not wanting to waste gas unnecessarily, began to look for another options since we ended up in Longmont, CO and a brown sign sure did lead us to adventure. It led us to St. Vrain's state park and the Longmont Cultural and History Museum as well as a Stellar Park which kind of makes it so that we want to move to Longmont, at least until we find somewhere cooler to live.

St. Vrain's State Park. Since we are owners of a Handy Dandy State Parks Pass, I am always in for checking out a new State Park. While this one wasn't very spectacular, we had a great time. It was right off of I-25 and it was mostly just a camping ground. But it had this pond in the middle and it became the source of our interest at lunch time. We enjoyed a nice picnic under a picnic shelter. Unfortunately I put the pictures in reverse order, but I am sure you will figure it out. Your smart right?

We stopped to gather a specimen of the pond scum/algae. To take home and examine under the microscope
The kids enjoyed getting their hands on it.
Our specimen. It made me think, that this is another item we need to get for a our nature bags is specimen containers. I haven't quite accomplished that but I picked up some baby food jars from LH yesterday, so it is a start and I have some Altoids tins I have intended to upcycle for them as well. Just wanted some nice nature themed paper for them and I just need to finish clearing my scrapbooking area so I have room to work.
Miss C. Liked these tiny white flowers.
And the purple thistles are a big hit too.
Pond Scum!!! This algae was very interesting to the kids. We skimmed out a sample to take home and view under the microscope.
During our picnic lunch, we admired this bird's nest. Never saw a bird visitor, but we took time to see what we thought the bird used to make the nest.