The night after Alder's birthday sleepover (Memorial Day weekend), we went out to the Rice Center on the James River. Mommy's grad students had a talk to give Saturday night, to a class doing a Summer course where they float the James River (headwaters to mouth) and learn about the historic intersections of the ecology, human settlement and culture along the James River. Then Mommy had a field lecture to give that Memorial Day morning. The Saturday afternoon we got there, we romped around by the river and in the woods, finding all sorts of fun stuff.
A gar skeleton on the shore.
A colony of digger bees. (Okay, so we thought this was exciting.)
The boys love being around college students and they have quite a bit now, come to think of it. They look up to them, and the boys get some unique attention. We got to eat dinner out on the river and then camp out. There were at least 6 species of frogs calling from the gray water basins at the Rice Center and we got to watch with flashlight and handle them all as desired. We were immersed in a cacaphony of frog calls all night. Think of being at a party when you have to yell to talk to each other. So awesome.
The boys slept unbelievably late the next morning, albeit in an oven of a tent, which was sweet for us. We go to get up early, set up bird nets, hang out and drink coffee on a perfectly beautiful Spring morning, out remote on the River. Lesley was wanting to capture (via mist nets) a Prothonotary Warbler to talk to the class there about her research with that species. We did catch one, and this is a good shot of the set up: bird in net, iPhone playing Prothonotary song to lure male in, male… lured in... and waiting to be extracted from net, banded, and made the center of attention for a few minuites.
Lesley talking to class.
Alder and Heath getting in the mix.
And then starting their day with a primo breakfast spot.
Who knows if experiences like this will provide some reference point later in their lives? Its fun to think about. Either way, this is what we do, so this is what they do. Whether or not their paths start from this, their paths will include it. That can't hurt. It really can only be positive, no matter what they "do" with their lives, right?
