Green Hour- In Bloom

Last summer, after reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, I discovered www.greenhour.org, a website devoted to getting children out in nature for an hour a day. At the time I was really excited about it and every day I made a conscious effor to do something with the girls outdoors. Then winter hit and my enthusiasm waned. It's hard to be excited about nature when nature is offering up -30 windchills. Snow I can handle, but death-defying cold is another matter entirely.

It is May now and the world once again seems like a kinder, gentler place so Bella and I took advantage of the beautiful weather today to go hunting for flowers with the camera. I hate to admit this, but I only recognize two of the flowers in the photos above, the daffodils and azaleas. In addition to these we found violets, dogwood, tulips and, of course, the ever popular dandelion. My very favourite flowers are coming soon. By the end of the month we'll have lilacs, crabapple blossoms and peonys. Winter is like a battle here and these are the sweet spoils of victory.