*Joey and William will be guests here on the blog as they document our Nature Challenge journey for 2016.

The Challenge: Attend the Celebration of Flight (we were not able to make it on September 24th for the kids’ day so we joined in the celebration on the 25th).

W:  We went to the Celebration of Flight.  We saw hawks migrating.

J:  I saw hummingbirds before I even saw a hawk.  They were very cute and they were next to the hummingbird feeders.  I knew what attracted them at that moment.

W:  I saw them first and I pointed them out to Joey.

J:  No, you didn’t.  Daddy pointed them out to me.

W:  Well let’s just assume that I did.

Me:  Boys, focus please.

J:  We got up to the hawk watch platform and pulled out our binoculars.  There was a lady there who knew a lot about the hawks and she helped us find and identify some.  I also knew that the lady we met last year must be there somewhere.  She was!  I was happy to see her again.

W:  We saw both ladies?

J:  Well, we saw a lady from this year and a lady from last year.  So…if you’re talking about a different lady from last year, I don’t think so, but the lady that taught us about thermals last year was there.  We talked to her.  Don’t you remember?  She told us about the tree that has leaves like sandpaper.

W:  What?  Ooohhh, yeah, I do remember that.  And I remember her.

J: After we did some hawk watching and drawing, we went for a walk.

W:  We went exploring and Daddy said, “Look!” and we went down a secret passage.

J:  It was very fun except I didn’t like the part with the very tall grass.  On our way back from the walk, we smelled smoke.

W:  It was the beginning of a Native American blessing.  First we got blessed.

J:  They were burning sage and they used the smoke to give us each a blessing.  It was like incense.  Then the Native Americans did some singing.  Then they did some dancing.  They were blessing the hawks’ migration and also sending our prayers up to be carried to Heaven with the hawks.  It took almost forever for the ceremony to end.

W: It was very fun to watch them sing and dance.

J:  There was a Sun and a Moon represented in the dance.

W:  After the ceremony we went to hold snakes.  There was a Mexican Milk snake, a Rat snake and a Western Garter snake.  They were fantastic.  I love holding snakes.  There was a lady there who said she was gardening and she stuck her hand in the garden and suddenly heard a rattle.  It was a rattlesnake!  She told us never to stick our hands into a place where we can’t see what we’re touching because there could be snakes.  I think that was good advice.  Okay, until next time!