Waterfall Park

It's been a while since we've taken you to Waterfall Park, so let me refresh your memory.  Waterfall Park is a pretty little area near the driveway where the outlet from the pond and a spring fed brook converge to form a paradise for birds, bugs, salamanders, kids, and dogs.  In the early spring, when the snow is melting, it's like white water rapids.  In the late spring and early summer, it's a gently flowing little stream. Later in the summer, it may nearly dry up completely.  It was founded by Joanie, Wayne, and Cole a couple of years ago.  Cole dubbed it "Waterfall Park" because he was going through a waterfall fascination phase and loved the way the water cascaded over the many rocks forming tiny little waterfalls.

That sparkly sequined skirt didn't slow Heather down. Earlier in the day she was digging holes and making mud in the gravel in front of the garage. I told her not to get her clothes dirty and she said, "But Mommy, I'm a KID.  It's OK for kids to get dirty!"  Which actually, is totally my philosophy about childhood, but usually I have them dressed accordingly.  Oh well, luckily she has the lovely pink net to match her stylish outfit.

Cole reaches for a critter with that nice long handle.

Wayne finds a salamander, but it scuttled away.

We've been avoiding the pond lately, because there has been a pair of ducks around over there.  I'm hoping that they will nest and we can have ducklings to observe. In the meantime, I figure three hollering kids and Spike galloping all over the place might scare them away.  However, at one point when it was just Wayne and myself, we went quietly over to see if the ducks were still around.  We didn't see them at that time, but we did discover that the pond is absolutely infested with tadpoles.  Wayne stuck his net in and scooped up a wriggling, slimy, black mass of them.  Here are just a few in a jar.

Cole took a fraction of these to school to be the class "pets."

LET THE SUMMER SCIENCE PROJECTS BEGIN!