Summer of bugs...

The summer is flying by, and we are keeping busy. Jakob is loving the nature hikes at Tryon Creek State Park, the last one was on insects of the night, we learned all about different insects, how to catch them, how they are necessary to us, what their bodies are like, what they do to plants/trees etc. Jakob can of course repeat all the facts verbatim.
Unfortunately, during the insect hike, Jakob got eaten up by the mosquitoes, we were all covered with long pants and long sleeves but Jakob got the worst of it on his forehead, and hands - poor kiddo! He's a trooper though. The mosquitoes this year are terrible here, really unusually bad, I'm thinking we need to invest in bug spray!
We've also been digging for bugs in the forest across the street and anywhere we can. I'm getting braver with my insect catching technique, using little tupperware containers to catch them in to look at up close. Jakob had me chasing a spider (a big one that was most likely a black widow, I put aside my fears and went for it, but it didn't happen). I still have yet to pick up a worm, Jakob will do it for me and for Sarah, although, Sarah is getting braver now and picked one up by herself the other day, she was REALLY proud of herself and yelled, "I did it by MYSELF!!" During our hikes, Sarah usually is running around like a nutball, pretending to be a butterfly, trying to got the opposite direction of the group, picking leaves and/or just singing to herself. Jakob is quite serious and looks at all the details of the trees, moss, insects, slugs etc. Needless to say, hiking with both is challenging!
I took Jakob today to Tryon Creek for our Mom/Son day, he always wants to go hiking, even after playing soccer for 45 minutes he was up for the hour long hike!
We also made blueberry bread today, with the berries we picked, happy to report it turned out fantastic!

Here is Jakob digging for bugs in a decomposing tree at Gabriel Park.

Jakob's new favorite words are decomposing and stagnant (which he usually pronounces as "tagnant"), he knows where the mosquitos are hanging out now!

Sarah going in for the worm
Looking at it with awe, she really was so proud, I wish I had recorded her reaction.
Had to add this one in, just because - Sarah's newest fashion craze - the tool belt, baby carrier - very multifunctional!