Quaking Bog Adventure

This morning we took a short drive to the Quaking Bog. Tyler didn't have to work until 11 and the weather was great, so we squeezed a trip in right before he had to work. I wish we had more time to visit. But it's about 5 minutes from our house.. so we really should go every day.

Olive and June both brought their DoodleBug mice. June really likes his. :)

We were the only ones in the parking lot and found a meter with time left - perfect!



I'm never sure how to transport June. On a short trip wearing him in the Ergo seems like too much of a hassle. And if he really doesn't want to be carried, after having the chance to walk, he'll put up a big fight. He needs to be just a wee bit older so I can rely on him walking and staying somewhat near to me better than he does right now. I also need to give him the chance more often! I think Tyler carries him more than I do, rather than deal with the "trouble" of chasing him or keeping him on task.





Olive was so excited! We had planned to go the day before but we ran out of time.



Olive and her mouse explored this old tree stump. Unfortunately she discovered that some previous park goers had used it as a trash can. She was a little amused.. as if they were genuinely confused and made a mistake.



June was extra snuggly as he's having a few bottom issues at the moment. Poor guy. And more me.





Have I told you that I love bogs?





Olive is showing her mouse that the boardwalk we were on is actually floating on water. Unschooling her mouse.





Do you see that? All of that sphagnum moss? Favorite thing ever. I think the mouse liked it, too. I think it's name is Mousey but I haven't confirmed. Olive found a green vest that fits him quite well.



Tyler kept an eye out for Olive and I got a turn with June. Of course I put him down right away.



He was trying to get to some open water off the path but it was kind of big, so I brought him back over to this spot we had already passed. He immediately started dunking his mouse in the cool bog water. It was perfect.





Olive came over and was upset that he was getting it messy and worried that he might misplace it within the bog. She took it from him so he started dunking his foot instead.



And then he couldn't resist the call of the sphagnum moss. I totally understand, little guy. It does that to me, too.





Tyler and Olive were making their way along the path - our meter was running out and Tyler had to start heading to work.



They were across the bog from us. I kept telling June just to follow the path to get to them. He would stop every so often to wave to them excitedly.



I LOVE BOGS.





Can we live in a bog?





When we got to the end of the boardwalk entrance/exit, June stepped off the path and climbed back onto the board walk via the side, under the railing. He seemed really excited to do this.



But it was slanted downhill quite a bit and he had a rough time standing up. I loved it.





We hurried up and down hills, over mud and gravel. June did great. He fell down a few times but wasn't too phased.







Pinecone stop.





If you would like to see the rest of the photos from our trip to the bog, click here!

olive's first photo walk.

It's a little silly and surprising, seeing as bogs are one of my most favorite things ever, but I have never taken Olive to the Quaking Bog, just a few minutes from our house.  I was debating if we should walk. It's a short drive but, according to my phone, a 51 minute walk.  I assumed I would have to go to the bathroom during the walk.. let along during our time there and our walk home.  I'm not as lucky as Olive - being a toddler comes with perks like travel potties.  So we drove.

We got ready at home and as soon as I grabbed my camera Olive ran to find hers.  She snapped a few photos while putting her shoes on and requested that I take her photo with her camera.

I put two quarters in our meter, which Olive claimed was only for emergencies, and we wandered off into the woods for 40 minutes.







It took us so long to get up the trail and to pick which other trails to take.  It's kind of a maze of trails back there - really wide, wide, sandy, super duper thin and barely used, and a big wide trail covered in brand new baby grass.  Some of the trails had little markers that stated a trail pass was required.  I had never noticed that before.  I tried to stay off those trails but couldn't find a way to get to the bog without using one.  Oh well.

It took us a long time because Olive needed to photograph the trees.



Olive taking the photo below.





And because she thought the sandy path was really neat.  It was full of foot prints.



And then she found a hole which is at the bottom of the next photo and spent some time looking at it.









We found a trail marker and Olive decided it was time to turn and follow this trail.  That's what it said to do.





So we found ourselves on a teeny tiny trail with lots of fallen trees.







And Olive found more trees to photograph.  We really need to work on moving that finger.





I found a nice yellow flower.



So did Olive.





I had to encourage her to not put the camera right on top of the flower she was photographing.  So she decided to zoom in.



She also needs to work on waiting for the camera to take the photo.  It's not as quick as mine and she's ready to snap the photo and move on but she needs to pause.  I kept the weird quack sound on so she can hear when it's done but sometimes she's just ready to move on.



She found and decided to photograph some more flowers.





And then she asked me to stop for a photo.











Finally we made our way down to the bog.  Olive was excited to see that we were going to walk on a little bridge.



This bog is surrounded by water so floating bridges get you to the middle, where the moss and trees are.



Olive thought it was really neat and couldn't quite decide if the water was water or mud.



She saw a lot of flowers that she liked and a lot of bugs walking on top of the water.















We really need to work on the whole the camera doesn't have a view finder thing.



I'm glad she's showing an interest in moss.  That's important.



And then we headed back up a few trails to the parking lot.



And photographed a couple more things on the way.

:)