exploration audubon

 

 

Groupon offered a family membership to our State’s Audubon recently.

 

$25 bucks for a year…

 

I snapped it right up!

It so happens that the main Audubon Center is in Bristol.  Which so happens to neighbor our pediatrician’s office location.  And since it’s our well-visit time of year…it worked out perfectly for a field trip! 

 

Clearly, they were no in the mood for pictures though. 

I had no idea what to expect. I was thinking it would just be nature trails.  But it was oh so much more!  A little mini nature museum greeted us right through the doors.  All of the exhibits reflect plants, animals, and birds (Tobin is a huge fan of birds) that naturally thrive in our cold, coastal habitat.  I was impressed and the kiddos were thrilled to find little clip boards with prepared scavenger hunts to help get our learning juices flowing.  What is it with kids and loving clipboards?!  And I’m always a fan when someone else does the work for me!     

 

 

I loooooved the life sized Right Whale model.  It was just so cool to feel so close to something so huge and powerful.  And the back side is designed to see the innards!  Bri was totally grossed out by whale heart & lungs.  Tobes and I thought it was awesome. 

The nature trails were AH-mazing too! 

There’s just something about board walks that make walking so much more fun.  Especially board walks that end at the bay!  Which btw…did you catch the jelly fish 5 pictures up?  Toby was like a little photo journalist snapping pics of birds and nests like crazy.  He had his heart set on finding an Oriole (his dad is a Virginia boy which can only mean one thing: they’re Baltimore Orioles fans!  Hence the desire to spot a real, live Oriole birdie).  Maybe next time…

 

We did see gobs of Red Winged Ravens.  Which are pretty cool too.  And Toby spotted that large nest way up high in a tree.  Also cool. 

Best of all were the little Passports we found at the front desk.  10 different Audubon sites in Rhode Island have a symbol hidden on a trail.  Our passports tell us where to find each symbol.  And every Audubon has it’s own page where we can “stamp” our passports with a rubbing of that symbol.  If we hike 6 trails by the end of September we get a great little prize pack!   

I totally give this one two thumbs up!  Well, except the part about finding ticks after.  Ick!  Did you know ticks can drop down from the trees?!  My dad educated me while he did picked two outta Toby’s hair for me.

 

We’re all excited to add another stamp to our passports.  We’ll just make sure to swim in bug spray first next time! 

 

I’m participating in Science Sunday.  For more fun Science-y reads click the image below…

 

danielle