Nature, Nature, Nature

The days are getting hotter and hotter, but we're still trying to spend as much time outside as possible before the sweltering heat and humidity of the Florida summer traps us inside.  Today, we hurried through watering the garden so we could relax a bit and watch the boys enjoy their bubble guns.  Best $4.99 I've spent in a long time.

There was quite a bit of raptor activity.  We saw a bald eagle, a red-tailed hawk, and a short-tailed hawk, all in pretty quick succession.  By the time I ran inside to get the camera, they were gone.  I need to start keeping it with me at all times, I think.

So, we scoped out insects instead.  Here's what we saw around the house:

I know the two on the left are spiders and the others are a bee and a butterfly, but we're not sure what kind they are.  That got us thinking that it would be nice to have an insect guide to go with our bird guide.  And maybe a tree guide and a flower guide, too.

Then I started flipping through the new science book I got for Henry's preschool level, Science is Simple, so I could put together a list of materials and supplementary readings to start acquiring for next year.  Lo and behold, it calls for a tree guide, flower guide, and insect guide.  So, there we go!  We've added them to the list and we'll work on identifying even more things in the backyard over the coming year.