The Apricots Overfloweth...

 

I have some really good friends.  Ones that are teaching me all the ropes in food preservation and suburban food foraging.  My friend, Amy, invited our family with theirs to harvest apricots at a friend of friend's mother's house (or some such connection).  She said it was a big tree.  What she should have said was it was a ginormous tree!  I think we only harvested about 1/3 or less of that trees bounty.  You could see the branches rise up once the weight of their fruit had been gleaned from them.  It was a simple evening of our children reaching as high as they could and the low spots the adults would rather not.  That tree had to have been at leat 30-40 years old and it was glorious and so laden with the small apricots.  My kids gorged on them and tucked in their pockets its seeds.   The are fantasizing at a tree of that epic proportions.  So tomorrow, they plan on planting those seed somewhere in the yard. and we will be pitting and stewing up apricots for Apricot nectar and perhaps some more apricot chutney.
Sometimes... the adventure in Colorado is in a friend of a friend's mother's backyard...
Where are your adventures taking you?

Exploring Local Business: Tiger Den Go See It

 Mr. J's Tiger  Den went to the Paradise Bakery last month for their Tiger Scout Go See It.  They had a great time looking in the kitchen and walk in fridge.  You will have to excuse the small number of pictures. I was trying to only put the ones without the other scouts in it as there are some scout rules about that sort of stuff.  One of our favorite ways to explore the community around us is to get together as a group and take a tour of a local business.  Paradise Bakery and Cafe was kind enough to open up for us in the evening when they were closed so the boys and some siblings could come in for a quick tour.  It was maybe 10 minutes long but the cookie decorating was the highlight. 

 Decorating the Cookies was the best part.

Get a load of the amount of frosting on that cookie.

What are some ways you gather as a group and explore places near you?

Park Tour: Dayton and Orchard Rds in Greenwood Village, CO

Something I have been thinking about for is a Colorado Parks Tour (Not to be confused with a State Park) no, I mean a good playground. So this is the second one. That and we may also do a library tour too. We love to bounce around to a variety of libraries too. It keeps it interesting. It keeps it fun.
I couldn't find a name for this park. But it is located at Dayton and Orchard Roads in Greenwood Village.

The Great Canal Clean Up Caper: The Historic High Line Canal, Aurora, CO

St.Patricks day has started of with a bang of fresh air! My two cub scouts and I headed out for the city of Aurora's Great Canal Clean Up Caper! It was a sort of last minute decision seeing that we could squeeze in a service project that would qualify my oldest for the World Conservation Award. Talk about last minute... he graduates from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts on Tuesday! So while we had some ulterior motives, I think this even will become a yearly tradition. One that I hope will involve all the family. The boys and I had a great time and the worked hard the whole time. I am very proud of them. Most importantly they felt good about themselves and the work that was done to make the Historic Highline Canal in Aurora a much better place to walk and ride a bike through.
What impressed me most about this even was the amount of people that turned out. I was thankful for that. But putting aside that, what was most remarkable was the shear number of boy scouts, cub scouts and even a few girl scouts. Say what you want about the BSA. I know many have feelings about BSA policy regarding the gay community, but the city of Aurora's project would have been "up a creek" without them today. I would imagine that well beyond 50% of the volunteers and perhaps might I guess, even 80% were as a result of the BSA. That is why BSA has my loyalty. It promotes civic responsibility and I can guess that without it projects like this would be in serious jeopardy. This isn't the first time I have seen outcomes like this and I feel comfortable, assuming that the same amount of people wouldn't turn out if there were no BSA. I am not interested in debating what people don't like about BSA, but I just wish to pay respect the organization that helps me raise boys of good character. I like the "investment into their character." I will be a scouter for life because of it.

Enough with the Scout Commercial there. Lets get on to the adventure itself. Like I said, my boys were eager and racing to pick up every bit of trash they could get their hands on. The portion of the canal we worked on was just behind the Community College of Aurora and to the south of it for about 1 mile. And boy was there a lot of trash! Mr. J loved checking out all the prairie dogs. We admired plenty of birds, chirping their great support of our efforts. We identified some robins and of course some Canadian Geese.

We were lucky to find some scat and tracks of mule deer. And it was wonderful to see the "face lift" that came to the canal as the trash was removed. It made this stretch so enjoyable to view.
I love gnarly trees and many of them look so in their winter state.


To see the water ways clear out of debris. A restoration of sorts for the nature around. The large quantity of trash really made the place on the ugly side.

They were amazed at the types of trash they found. Even more amazed by the large quantity of plastic grocery bags littering the trees, shrubs and water ways. Mr. A made the connection. "I am so glad we always try and remember our reusable bags mom," he said.
A picnic area cleaned up and ready for people to enjoy.


Two tired boys, ready to call it a day.

Plains Conservation Center, Aurora CO

October 22, 2011
It is days like this. Days when I get one child to myself. In photos like this I am forced to realize that he won't reach out to hold my hand as we walk for much longer. I love admiring our moment in our shadows. I am grateful for this moment.
Mr. A had a Scout Service Project at the Plains Conservation. They got to roll up their sleeves and tidy up the historic school house.
There were 3 Teepees to admire. He wished he could go camping in them.

The handmade brooms in the corner of the school room.

This boy of mine.

The glass water dispenser on the window ledge in the school house. I love the look of it.

Is this a metal lunch tin? So cute.



He was pleased to see the McGuffy Readers. Vintage ones unlike the reproduction ones we have at home.

Chalkboard, desks and a dunce hat on the stool in the corner.


A view into the homestead home.

A quick peak into bedroom.


Check out the sod lined walls. Layers upon layers of sod.

Blacksmith
Chicken Coupe

My cub scout... only months away from entering into Boy Scouts. I admired how eager he was to serve that day. I hope that he never loses it.

Cherry Creek Reservoir, Aurora CO- The Work of Play

Today we took our weekly day off to do something out of the ordinary. We joined some friends at Cherry Creek Reservoir and spent the day in the sun and sand. This reservoir is about 10 miles from home and is a Colorado State Park within the middle of our Metropolis. This is one thing I LOVE about Colorado and even the Denver Metro Area. We are just not lacking for natural areas within the metro area. How cool that tucked behind the Denver Tech Center is a refuge for the people. A place to swim, a place to camp, a place to hike. We have camped here a few times, but in a camping family like ours, it is considered wimpy camping and when we need to keep it close, it is a great place to take the Scouts. And in an economy such as this and having four kids, the $9 pass to get in is the cheapest I can take my kids swimming, aside from mooching off a friend who happens to have a pool in a HOA. Even better is the cost of a season pass, $63 here in CO and I can go to any state park in the state. And a continual place to swim. LOVE IT!

But today rather than seeking out the nature around we enjoyed just being in the out of doors and letting the work of play infuse the minds of my four. I had a hard time dragging them away after the hours of sun.

Using pails to fill and dump water.

Having a great time.

Digging, building, molding and watching the effects of dumping large quantity of water via the big green tub behind him.
Then doing it in a way a girl would want to when it doesn't work out with your brothers.

There is nothing like the beach to get your hands into the earth and get down and dirty with the water so near to cool and clean you off.

The collaboration of brothers.

Biggest brother hoping the youngers will listen.

A day to float and play your cares away. Let play do the work it does in the life of a child. I am so thankful that homeschooling is such that it leaves ample time for play in their lives. That if we do the way it should be done, their evenings and even afternoons are free to do the work of play.

I never knew....

Don't you hate it when you discover something fantastic and you never knew it was so near to you. In all our adventures in Nature Schooling, how come I never knew this was so near? Uhmmmmm Field Trip!!!

The Cherry Creek Ecological Park