"Take this sinking boat and point it home, we've still got time. Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice, you've made it known."

Why do I keep forgetting that when I sit in the comfy leather chair for too long it gets hot?

Oh well.

I love lost.

Many more pictures on the way.

Moss is so cool.

Guess who made a spider on a rainy day?

Long-horned beetle. Pretty cool, huh?

Heh. This dragon fly did a hand stand for the camera.

Here is my long-horned beetle friend again. Look at those antennae!

Okay. So for a little more an explanation. Wednesday was rainy and the kids who were going to come on a field trip to Bear Brook had to cancel. We felt so bad that we worked on making pet rocks for each class. This is one of them. A toad. Look at the fly on his tongue! And the paper feet! So cute. And put in a box with real leaves and pine needles.

Here is the outside of the toads box.

These are my favorite. The two salamanders. The spotted salamander and the red-spotted newt. In their own little hand made vernal pool. So cute!

Random picture of a frog some kids caught on Thursday.

There are those salamanders again. I would be so psyched if I were a kid!

These are the "rainy day" haikus that we wrote for the kids and put in each pet rock habitat.

Another haiku chilling next to the toad.

Megan wrote cute little instructions for each class on how to take care of their pet rocks.

This is the moose habitat. I helped with this one the most but the outside was done by Rachel.

There's the moose I made. Actually it's a free floating moose head. A little creepy, but you try finding a rock that looks like a full moose body! He's living by a pond I painted for him with rocks and branches from the outdoors. That is how we spent to majority of our morning that rainy day. It was so much fun! If only we could do that every day.

Going back in time, on Monday we went to White Lake and Franconia Notch which are two places that we have the choice of working at this summer. We went on a walk near Franconia Notch to see the Flume. A waterfall flowing through the steep granite walls in that park. This is a Jack in the Pulpit plant. I have been waiting all spring to see one of these. You should see how excited I got when I saw it!

Here is a view of part of the White Mountains from the parking lot of Franconia Notch.

A view from White Lake State Park

The lake at White Lake is a glacial kettle lake. Formed by the movement of rocks caused by glacial movements. The hole left behind is filled. There is no outlet or inlet. The bottom is clean and sandy and the water is clear. Halfway across the lake the water is no deeper than your waist.

Here is another view of the lake. The park is at the feet of the White Mountains. A wonderful location.

More of The Flume. Beautiful cascades!

We had to walk up a lot of stairs. I admit that I thought of Lord of the Rings.

We could feel the spray of the water.

These are the trees that ledges jutting out of sheer rock.

Trillium! This pretty flower has just started popping up. Love this plant.

Farther up, the water is mostly a stream tumbling its way to the flume.
Rachel sits in the thinker pose trying pose in the perfect senior picture pose.
We didn't see any bears.
More pretty waterfall!

All the Interpreters! Going up, we have Sylvia, Peter, Me, Rachel, Megan, Jessica. Some of us are going along with what I suggested and are saying "FLUME!" Others didn't like the idea so SOME of us (namely me) look silly while others look just fine.

Count how many rocks standing on other rocks you see. I know the picture is small. People get down there and leave these rocks behind. It was cool to see.

Covered bridges. I hear that there is a covered bridge festival in New Hampshire in the fall. When I told this to Rachel she laughed. I guess it is a little silly to think that covered bridges are lovely. I'm like Strong Sad.

Heart Stump.

Megan is King of the World!

So, I am hot sitting on this chair.

We have been leading field trips for kids that last two weeks. Little 4th graders running around. We take them on an activity hike and then ponding at a vernal pool. It's been so much fun and a taste of what we are going to be doing for a lot of the summer.

Some classes are great, others are less than thrilled at being in the sun and bugs. It's a challenge, but I love it! This is one of my favorite parts of doing what I do.

We are going to see one more park on Monday and then put in our preferences. Hopefully by the end of the week we will know where we are going to be placed. I don't even care about seeing the last park. I just want to know!

Then we have 4 more field trips and then it's another weekend, and then I get to see the FAMILY! Mom, Dad, Elise, Juli, Beckie, Kirsti, and Max and Sadie.

That's all I got.