We encountered so many wondrous creatures that my children could have had endless science lessons. We just observed these fantastic animals though, and talked about them a little. It was very nice. My kids have a list of questions we will look up later. But we just enjoyed being out in nature.
My ten-year-old daughter had to learn not to be afraid of the snake she almost stepped on by the pond. She was worried that a snake could get into our tent, and bite her while she was sleeping. I told her we have to pray that God will lead the animals to their own beds, and not ours!
There were many mosquitoes, that we prayed would stop biting us. There were the mosquito eaters, including other insects, birds, and bats. We saw bees, ugly bugs and beetles too.
Then there were the toads, frogs, turtles and fish. My six-year-old was very excited to actually catch a little toad! He now is curious about what toads eat. That's a lesson for another time, but he sure had fun trying to feed it some of his peanut butter sandwich, s'mores and popcorn!
We also encountered ducklings and their parents. There were two different sets of ducky families. The newborn babies were so cute and fluffy. The older ducklings were bigger, but just as adorable. My boys kept calling those the "teenage ducklings".
After spending all this time in nature with my kids, without the pressures of life to keep us crazy, our mantra has become, "Speak Kindly". I noticed we were all talking to each other in harsher tones than necessary for the simplest of issues. So, our souls have been soothed, and our tongues are attempting to speak kindly to each other, all because we just existed in nature for a few days.
"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;" Romans 12:10
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