Julie Fox, the naturalist and educator at the park puts on a fabulous program that is always informative for the kids and more often than not, includes live animals of one sort or another. In the winter we meet at the interpretive center, but during the summer months, story time takes place at a variety of locations throughout the park.
Today we met at beautiful Lake of The Dalles for a program on snakes.
Julie read to the kids first and talked a little bit about snakes in our area (no poisonous ones, WooHoo!).
Then came the main attraction....a baby hognose snake!! It was quite small and cute and all the kids got a chance to hold or pet it. Julie found this snake in her yard this past weekend and has been caring for it in captivity to bring to Nature Story Time. She's so cool!
After much oohing and ahhing over the snake, and a brief but unsuccessful toad hunt (the favorite food of hognose snakes) , the kids moved on to snack time.
For the past couple years, Ben has been the oldest kid at Nature Story Time and has taken on the role of Julie's assistant. He helps to read stories or facilitate activities and he also has the all-important role of snack distributor. Everybody loves the snack guy!
For the past couple years, Ben has been the oldest kid at Nature Story Time and has taken on the role of Julie's assistant. He helps to read stories or facilitate activities and he also has the all-important role of snack distributor. Everybody loves the snack guy!
We are so fond of Interstate Park. There are so many diverse trails to hike and such great activities going on all the time. We usually buy a yearly pass and we definitely get our $ worth. We often head over here during the day on school/work days (perk of homeschooling!) and it is so tranquil and not at all crowded. It is like our own private state park.
After finishing up with story time, we had a nice little lunch and played on the playground for a bit.
And, it was actually hot enough today to stop for ice cream on the way home.
And, it was actually hot enough today to stop for ice cream on the way home.
Any day that ends with ice cream has to be good!
4 comments:
That looks like so much fun and what a great resource! I wonder if we have anything like that down here? How did you find out about something like that?
What a lot of fun, and beautiful pictures. I loved that picture of Charlie's profile. Look at those long legs on Ben! He is going to be SO TALL!
The kids might like this rhyme about snakes that kids down here learn to keep them safe. It is about the colored bands of our native snakes:
"Red touching yellow kills a fellow; Red touching black is a friend of Jack."
I loved interstate as a kid... we would beg to go and see the rock formations by the St. Croix.
You know, I actually can not remember how I first got to know about the programs at this park. Of course when we first moved here I was in a panic to meet other moms and kids so I was looking everywhere I could to find out where the playgroups and the story hours were. My best guess is that I saw Story Time listed in our local paper. I just can't remember. In any case, I'm sure there must be a state park near you. They usually all have great kid programs.
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