Tracking...

Spring is most definitely here in the southwest.  It seems so strange to think of it still being bitterly cold in other parts of the country.

Because our weather is now in the mid 70's I'm swinging in to full "outside" time mode before it gets too hot...

This dove-tailed nicely with the start of our unit on frontiersmen and tracking!  We added a little southwest flair by reading a book my mom had given me a few years ago: Who Pooped in the Sonoran Desert: Scat and Tracks for Kids!  I don't know if it's a boy thing or if they have my biology bent already, but the boys have long been obsessed with this book. 

We then put into practice what we had learned about identifying tracks and scat by setting out for a hike!

I've been wanting to do this for months and gradually built up for this moment by taking a couple of short hikes with 'reinforcements' - aka other adult help!  With the success of those hiking trips, I confidently set out on my own with three little boys, water, the Ergo and my camera, of course.

Am I crazy or what?

I've decided flying solo is not my preferred method at this stage, but we all survived and I only packed ONE child out on my back!  Ironically, the 3 year old wasn't the other one begging to be carried out...

For the most part, Treyton - our wild man, stayed close.

We had fun exploring a wash.  It was peppered with animal tracks and then the boys settled down to play in the sand a bit.

But before long, a certain someone kept taking off to try and explore solo...

Cute, but for sanity's sake, we set out once again.

The recent rain storms we've had meant that finding tracks was not too hard.

Although most belonged to domesticated animals, people and bikes, we did manage to find some scat that seemed to belong to a coyote.  I'll spare you the details, but after reading our book, we are pretty sure it didn't come from a pet...

What are your favorite "perfect weather" outdoor activities?  I'd love to enjoy this season as much as possible while it lasts!