A Little Bit of the Outdoors Indoors: Christmas Tree Chopping

It's been somewhat of a tradition since I was a teenager for my family and I to head out to the "mountains" to chop down our Christmas Tree.  We started this tradition when my family moved up to the San Francisco Bay Area from Southern California and it's a tradition that my husband and I have continued with our children!

Now it's a multi-generational extended family event that usually ends up being a great day roaming around the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains with my family, and when I say 'my family,' I mean my WHOLE FAMILIA!!  Grandparents, parents, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters all join in on the fun.

This year adventure included only 13 people of my family....we were still missing about half!

Christmas Tradition

Generally, those who celebrate Christmas have a Christmas Tree, whether they chop it down themselves, go to a neighborhood Christmas tree lot, buy an artificial tree or buy a planted tree.  My family doesn't have too many "set in stone" traditions but this is one that we have kept for a long time.  Why?

• We all love the adventure of going and cutting our own Christmas Tree down.
• The house smells like pine for a long time and the trees last a long time.
• The children in my family take more "ownership" of the Christmas Tree.
• It's a great chance to build long lasting family memories in the outdoors and an opportunity for my family to gather all together which is quite a task in itself!

I love watching all my nephews, cousins and my own children run around the farm looking for the PERFECT Christmas Tree, playing hide seek and in particular watching them slide down the muddy hills!

Watching the kids chop down their own tree is always a great treat especially when they can yell "Timber!!"

Even though the San Francisco Bay Area doesn't get "real winter" a.k.a. snow, we still have signs of winter....

Bay Area Christmas Tree Farms

There are many Christmas tree farms around the Bay Area, but I've only seen farms in primarily heading out to Half Moon Bay and towards the Santa Cruz Mountains.  We love going to Jim & Vicky's Christmas Tree at the end of  Black Road Christmas Tree Farms in Los Gatos, California.

Christmas Tree Price: $50 any size (Price as of 2014)

Equipment Provided: Saw, twine and instructions to cut the tree

Location: 20381 Black Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033 

Opening: Friday after Thanksgiving from 8 a.m. to dark

Email: jimandvickys@gmail.com

They are a small "Mom & Pop" friendly farm, very friendly and they always give out cookies and candy canes to everyone!  The farm has "Manly/Womanly" hilly side and the "Sissy" flat side as Jim says jokingly, but there are lots of Douglas Fir trees and a smaller section of Blue Spruce trees.  Jim also explains that cutting the tree will NOT kill the tree if directions are followed, and a new tree will grow!

There are MANY Christmas Tree farms on Black Road but we have always gone to  Jim and Vicky's Christmas Trees because we love supporting "Mom & Pop" operations!

I highly suggest adventuring out to chop down your own Christmas Tree.  There are even some regional parks and national forest areas where you can cut your own tree with a permit for free.  But a little research must be made in your area to find locations like those!  Christmas tree farms might be a little more expense that Christmas Tree lots but I think it's worth the investment.

Lots of family memories can be made by bringing a little bit of the outdoors indoors for Christmas!

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Dawn Day in the Wildlife: Saving the Birds at International Bird Rescue

This is a sponsored post by Dawn and the third post of a four-series posts on my experiences with #DawnDayintheWildlife.  To read the series posts please click HERE.

My first memories of Dawn were the commercials with the adorable ducklings being washed with Dawn dish soap, and I would be lying if I said I hadn't shed a tear or two watching those commercials!  Now thanks to Dawn I met Andrew Harmon, Director of Marketing and Communications of  the International Bird Rescue (IBR).  Andrew spoke to the group of us #DawnDayintheWildlife bloggers at The Marine Mammal Center about Dawn's partnership with the IBR.

The California Brown Pelican and Gulls

The IBR is in Fairfield, California, only about an hour from our Bay Area home, so I was invited to extend my #DawnDayintheWildlife experience by visiting a great rescue center for birds.  I was really excited that I was able to take the rest of my family because my children really love wildlife, and particularly birds, but I explained to my children that we were visiting a "Bird Hospital" and we might see some birds with injuries.

Indeed that is exactly what it looked like a "Bird Hospital"!

The Examination

We quietly observed a Gull being examined, this particular Gull had a wing injury.  A fisherman found him with a fishing hook puncturing his wing, so he captured and took it to a local animal shelter.  This Gull had already been patched up by the animal shelter but the IBR volunteers had to examine the injury and redress the injury.

Body, Injured Wing and Head Examination

During the examination, the volunteers want to have the least "human interaction" with the bird, since it is a wild bird and they want the bird to stay wild.  Andrew explained the reason the bird's head is covered with the towel is to have the least amount of eye contact and only during the head examination is the head uncovered.  Some more aggressive birds might even lunge to peck a person's eyes, so the least amount of eye contact the better!

As for my children, I had to explain to them that we had to be VERY quiet so the bird wouldn't get scared.  I think because the bird had an "owie" the children were very quiet and concerned for the gull.  They understood that the bird "doctors" were making the gull feel better!  I am very thankful to the IBR for allowing my children to experience a little bit of #DawnDayintheWildlife.

The Cleaning Process and Facilities

We were able to visit the IBR's cleaning and rehabilitation rooms and of course the donated Dawn dish soap was on display everywhere!

When birds come covered in oils, the volunteers need to clean the birds.  The oils are very dangerous to the birds because the unnatural oils allow the birds to get wet as well as possibly chemically burning their skin or eyes.  There is a process in how the birds are taken care of which usually follows the routine of washing, rinsing, drying, waterproofing and release.  We did not observe the whole process since there were no other birds than the gull being currently attended but below you can experience a "Real Wildlife Release with Dawn" and see the the process from beginning to end!

From the washing rooms bird are transferred to drying cages.  The cages are for all sizes of aquatic bird, some even large enough to hold a California Brown Pelican.  The IBR works hard to save all these beautiful birds by partnering with volunteers, other organizations and companies including oil companies. These volunteers spend countless hours washing, feeding, constructing drying racks so these birds can have a chance for survival once they are returned to their natural habitats.

On the outside of the IBR facilities, we were able to see the warming tanks (as explained in the video) as well as some birds in the last stage of their "stay" at the IBR.  The whole family was excited to get a sneak peak on the birds and we silently cheered when we saw the birds swimming in their pools.

We even saw the resident Egret who was treated at the IBR and release in the nearby marshes but it loved it's stay so much that it returns to visit regularly!

Chasqui Mom's Last Thoughts...

My absolute favorite part of our visit was the aviary cage for more reasons than one.  Earlier during our visit I saw a Gull being treated for an injury and to be completely honest, I wasn't too found of gulls.  Why? Well because I viewed them as annoying birds who would always try to steal my chips at the beach or attack dumpsters scavenging for food.

Just like many things in life, until I educated myself about the "thing" I didn't like I viewed it as an annoyance.  I saw all birds, and in particular the Gull, in a different light after visiting the IBR because they are wild birds.  Sadly our human actions have affected their "wildness" and these formerly "annoying" birds are as beautifully wild as the California Brown Pelican.

Now when I'm hiking with my children along the San Francisco Bay, it brings a smile to my face to think that maybe one of the birds flying along was a bird saved by the International Bird Rescue.

Nature applauds the efforts of the International Bird Rescue and Dawn.  I applaud them for giving nature a boost so my children can enjoy it for future generations to come.

A few facts about the IBR:

Photo Courtesy of the International Bird Rescue

•  There are two centers (bird hospitals) in California: The San Francisco Bay Area and another in the Southern California.
• The IBR saves seabirds and aquatic birds affected by man-made and natural disasters such as oil-spills and marine trash from around the world since 1971.
• From Alaska to Argentina to South Africa, the IBR can send emergency response teams to help when disasters hit these beautiful birds.
• In 1978, IBR founder Alice Berkner discover that Dawn worked best cutting the oil off of birds and since 1988 Dawn began its partnership with IBR.
• The IBR has about 200 volunteers!

I would like to thank Dawn who provided this sponsored trip.  As always these are my true and honest opinions.


Related Posts and Links:

1. Dawn's Day in the Wildlife on the California Coast
2. Dawn Day in the Wildlife: The Marine Mammal Center Volunteers & Family Outdoor Education
3. International Bird Rescue: Every Bird Matters (Official Web Page)

Join in on the conversation by leaving a comment here! You can also join in on the conversations on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Twitter that is updated daily with outdoor activities and other wonderful posts and links from #OutdoorFamilies!

Dawn Day in the Wildlife: The Marine Mammal Center Volunteers & Family Outdoor Education

 

This is a sponsored post by Dawn and the second post of a four-series posts on my experiences with #DawnDayintheWildlife.  To read the first post on the series please click HERE.

As part of our "Day Day in the Wildlife" at The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC), I had the opportunity to shadow a volunteer cleaning the center and possibly making fish milkshakes! Unfortunately, due to infectious diseases that can be passed from mammals to humans during pregnancy, it was highly recommended to not participate in the "active volunteering" part of the event.

Photo Courtesy of Susan Goldman

I was a little disappointed but being early in my pregnancy I didn't want to take any risks.  That just meant I spent more time getting to know the wonderful Kathy Crawford, Education Volunteer.

Before I dive into all the work volunteers do a TMMC, thanks to Dawn and their camera crew you can hear exactly what the center provides for families looking for outdoor education and adventure from Kathy herself!

Getting to Know Kathy Crawford, Education Volunteer

Dawn had paired me up with an Education Volunteer like Kathy because she is also a mom and they knew how much I love wildlife and the outdoors!  Thanks to people like Kathy many children can learn about marine mammals and what they can do to protect animals from getting injured.

It was very inspiring to listen and learn about Kathy's path that led her to volunteer at TMMC.  Being a single mother of three children in Michigan, she didn't have time to volunteer, or any ocean nearby.  She wanted to be a marine biologist in college but life ended up taking her on another path.

A couple of years ago, Kathy visited TMMC and decided that if she ever moved to the San Francisco Bay Area that she would definitely wanted to become a volunteer.  Last year, Kathy moved to the area and she was able to live out her dream and work with marine mammals primarily in Education but also volunteers in the "Stranding and Releases" areas.

As a youth worker myself, an icebreaker question I love to ask to get conversations rolling is "What is your favorite animal?" and Kathy immediately answered: "Harbor Seals," which led to one of Kathy's favorite volunteer experience which is so touching....

"The one that really touched me was when we had a very premature harbor seal name Myclovial.  She was very weak and still covered with fur.  She was unable to keep down formula, so we knew she wouldn't have any chance of getting better without nutrition.  Normally we do not hold the animals very long, but she was so close to death that my supervisor said I could hold her after we tube-fed her to keep her head up and hopefully keep her meal down.  It worked.

But by the third meal, she was really limp and I knew that she probably wasn't going to make it.  When I was holding her, she grabbed my finger with her flipper.  I felt like she was saying goodbye to me.  She died a couple days later, but I just felt we did everything we could and that felt very good." ~ Kathy Crawford, Education Volunteer

With that touching story, the Harbor Seal is now my favorite marine mammal.  Kathy spent the rest of the morning teaching me the differences between harbor seals and sea lions and what to do in case we find a injured or stranded marine mammal.

Photo (Left and Right) Courtesy of Susan Goldman.

FYI, Sea lions have little ears and large flippers and harbor seals don't.

Seals & Slippers: Sleep Under the Stars and Summer Camps

Another great program Kathy talked about was the "Seals & Slippers" family program! Families can register to camp at TMMC courtyard and fall asleep under the beautiful night sky with the sounds of the Pacific Ocean and sea lions!

Photo Courtesy of The Marine Mammal Center

This great program allows children participate in fish dissections, observe sea lion feedings, go on a guided hike and most importantly spend quality time with their families!  My family will probably join in on the fun once my children are old enough.  For more information about this program please visit The Marine Mammal Center website.

Sea Quest is 5-day education summer day camp where children from elementary grades 1st-6th, can explore marine science and ocean conservation!  For more information on Sea Quest please visit The Marine Mammal Center website.


A few more amazing facts about TMMC Volunteers:

1. TMMC has 1100 volunteers annually!  With only 45 paid staff members this organization is primarily run by volunteers.
2. All volunteers must be trained depending in the area training can last two days to ongoing "on the job" training.
3. Volunteers can be as young as 15 years old and can be part of the "Youth Crew".
4. TMMC also provide externships, which provides veterinary students in their final/clinical year to gain experiences under the guidance of veterinary staff/volunteers.
5. Volunteers are located in three different locations in Northern California and in Kona, Hawaii!

Chasqui Mom Last Thoughts...

I was truly blown away by how TMMC is run by so many volunteers!  These are people who give their time to saving these animal whether its actually working with animals or volunteering for an administrative position in the office.  Volunteers are vital to TMMC completing their mission...

"Our mission is to expand knowledge about marine mammals - their health and that of their ocean environment - and to inspire their global conservation." -- The Marine Mammal Center

Thanks to the volunteers like Kathy Crawford and partnerships like TMMC and Dawn, these beautiful animals have a great chance in surviving.

I would like to thank Dawn who provided this sponsored trip.  As always these are my true and honest opinions.

Related Posts:

1. Dawn's Day in the Wildlife on the California Coast 
2. Dawn Day in the Wildlife: Saving the Birds at International Bird Rescue

Join in on the conversation by leaving a comment here! You can also join in on the conversations on Chasqui Mom's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that is updated daily with outdoor activities and other wonderful posts and links from #OutdoorFamilies!

Dawn's Day in the Wildlife on the California Coast

 

This is a sponsored post by Dawn and the first post of a four-series posts on my experiences with #DawnDayintheWildlife.

Photo by Susan Goldman

"Loving nature through hiking, backpacking and anything outdoors as a family" is Chasqui Mom's motto.  Over the years of enjoying the outdoors with my family we have learned to respect, learn and PROTECT our environment especially wildlife.  Therefore, I was very excited when Dawn asked me to participate in "Dawn's Day in the Wildlife"  to experience how Dawn is involved in saving wildlife.

The only thing I knew about Dawn saving wildlife was from those super adorable commercials of oil covered ducklings being washed with Dawn and coming out as fluffy as can be, so I was very interested in learning how else Dawn was involved in saving wildlife at The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC) and the International Bird Rescue (IBR).  A collection of 11 bloggers were brought to the San Francisco Bay Area from all over the US and Canada to experience a tiny portion of what goes on at these great centers.  To say that I was blown away is an understatement...

The California Coast and The Marine Mammal Center

Many of you know I'm truly a California girl and a true California Coast nature lover.  My family and I have had the pleasure of viewing wild elephant seals and dolphins along the California Coast.

Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Park

It is amazing to see wildlife in their natural habitat but unfortunately many of these coastal marine mammals are injured or affected by illnesses caused by human interaction.  But it's not always human interaction - the sea lion below was bitten by a shark!

Photo by Susan Goldman

In our visit to the TMMC, we learned how this great organization rescues marine mammals, covering 600 miles of the California Coast, and working with animals ranging from elephants seals, harbor seals and sea lions.  It's an enormous amount of effort to bring the marine mammals back to health so they can have a chance in surviving back in the wild.

Photo by Susan Goldman

All this work is done by 45 staff and OVER 1,100 volunteers!!  From veterinarians to high school students, all ranges of volunteers come to TMMC to give their time to these beautiful animals.  TMMC uses Dawn products to clean cages and all the processing equipment used to make the marine mammal fish-shakes! Yum!

Kath Crawford, Education Volunteer

I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Kathy Crawford, Education Volunteer and learn about her experiences at TMMC.  I learned so much and admired Kathy's countless hours to the TMMC, which I will write about in an upcoming post!  Thanks to Kathy many families and children learn how to help the marine mammals.

Unfortunately, due to infectious diseases that can be passed from marine mammals to humans, it was highly recommended for me to not participate in the food preparing and kitchen/cage cleaning process because of my pregnancy.

Photo by Susan Goldman

To read about the cleaning and food process in more detail, please visit A Slob Comes Clean blog.

But I was able to get a quick visit to a few "patients" recovering in their hospital cages...

Sweet, sweet sea lions....

The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA.  © David Wakelyrine

TMMC is a located in San Francisco Bay Area, my backyard National Park the Marin Headlands Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Sausalito, California.  Did I mention that it's free to visit?!

Sea Lions Released at Point Reyes National Seashore

We had the honor and pleasure of participating in releasing THREE sea lions back into the wild at Chimney Rock, Point Reyes National Seashore. We were told that not all 1,100 volunteers ever see a release, so it was truly special to be able to see and participate in this momentous occasion.

There will be a more in depth post and maybe video of the release, but I was very happy to participate in a small portion of the the release "Apostrophe, Row and Fritters" the sea lions!

"We are FREE!!" Photo by Susan Goldman

Point Reyes National Seashore is one of my favorite Bay Area National Park gems and now that I know and witnessed a sea lion release there, Point Reyes will forever hold a special place in my heart!

Dawn and The International Bird Rescue

During "Dawn's Day in the Wildlife" I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Harmon, Director of Marketing and Communications of the International Bird Rescue (IBR).  I was happy to find out that the IBR has a Bay Area center in Fairfield, California so he invited my family and I for a visit, which I will write about in more depth later in this series.

Andrew Harmon, Speaking about the IBR

A few facts about the IBR:

•  There are two centers (bird hospitals) in California: The San Francisco Bay Area and another in the Southern California.
• The IBR saves seabirds and aquatic birds affected by man-made and natural disasters such as oil-spills and marine trash from around the world since 1971.
• From Alaska to Argentina to South Africa, the IBR can send emergency response teams to help when disasters hit these beautiful birds.
• In 1978, IBR founder Alice Berkner discover that Dawn worked best cutting the oil off of birds and since 1988 Dawn began its partnership with IBR.
• The IBR has about 200 volunteers!

As an outdoor loving mom, I enjoy spending time in nature with my family and seeing wildlife in its natural habit.  I'm trying to instill the values of taking care of our earth which includes wildlife like the birds at the IBR.  Seeing the excitement of my children's faces when we saw the Pelicans at the IBR, will always remind me that it's not just a bird, there is a bigger picture that we sometimes don't see in our daily lives.

That's why this Dawn and IBR video really resonates with me, I love seeing the "The Big Picture" through my children's eyes and help preserving it for them and the generations to come.

For more information on...

The Marine Mammal Center

International Bird Rescue

Dawn Saves Wildlife

I would like to thank Dawn who provided this sponsored trip.  As always these are my true and honest opinions.

Related Posts and Links:

1. Dawn Day in the Wildlife: The Marine Mammal Center Volunteers & Family Outdoor Education
2. Dawn Day in the Wildlife: Saving the Birds at International Bird Rescue

Cleaning Up Limantour Beach ~ National Trails Day

From the mountains to the oceans, there's something I usually see on the trail that I really don't like...trash.  Everything in nature is interconnected so when someone leaves a piece of trash in the California Sierra Mountains at some point rain, creeks and rivers will sweep it to the ocean.  We have made it a habit to pick up trash when we are hiking, so on National Trails Day we decided to volunteer for a beach clean up!

National Trails Day was founded by the American Hiking Society in the late 1980's to celebrate America's magnificent Trails System. During the first Saturday of every June, many events are organized such clean ups, hiking, bird watching, biking, trail restoration and much more.  Since we always do everything as a "familia", I was happy to find out that even my toddlers could participate at beach clean up which was being hosted by the National Park Service and Point Reyes National Seashore Association at Limantour Beach on National Trails Day.

At first sight, Limantour Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore looked very clean and I was somewhat disappointed that maybe we were not going to be able to find much to clean up but we were wrong.  Our family alone found a brick, lots of shotgun shells, Styrofoam pieces, cigarettes, hair barrettes, bottle caps, straws, razors, Easter Basket plastic grass and more trash that we couldn't identify.  Combined all 23 beach volunteers picked up over 900 pounds of beach trash which included a large fishing net and a 20 foot plastic beam that weighed over 600 pounds.  We actually had a break and snacks on the plastic beam and we wondered "How in the world did THIS get here?!"

For more photos of the Limantour Beach clean up and trail restoration please click HERE.

Chasqui Mom Last Thoughts...

We enjoy the outdoors quite often by hiking, riding, camping and backpacking, but it was fantastic to volunteer our time and enjoy the outdoors by making it a cleaner world.  My children might not remember this specific event at Limantour Beach but they were left with a lasting impression that trash belongs in a trashcan.  Every time we are out and about and they see trash we pick it up, whether it's on the trail or on a neighborhood walk.  

This year I have had the honor of joining the American Hiking Society Board of Directors and I look forward to serving America's hikers in the following years.  Jennifer Chambers, the Chair of the American Hiking Society Board of Directors is also a outdoor family blogger at Hiking Along and also had a great clean up at Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail.

Head on over to Hiking Along and read about "Celebrate Trails?"

A few of my fellow outdoor family bloggers enjoyed National Trails Day by Hiking!!

Photo courtesy of Tubbs Snowshoes. Moosefish kids!!

Moosefish - John Soltys sand his family joined Tubbs Snowshoes on a hike to Serene Lake in Washington! Oh the joys of hiking with kids and encountering different people on the trail. [Picture above]

Wild Tales of - Kate and her family headed out to Seward Park located in Seattle on Lake Washington.  It's always great to hit the trail as a family including our pets!

On The Beaten Path - Even though Jill and her family are in Canada, she wanted to feature The Sunset Coast Trail, which her family backpacked in May!

How and where did you celebrate National Trails Day?

Join in on the conversation by leaving a comment here! You can also join in on the conversations on Chasqui Mom's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that is updated daily with outdoor activities and other wonderful posts and links from #OutdoorFamilies!

Snake Encounters on the Trail with Kids

On our most recent family backpacking adventure at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, my family had two encounters with snakes.  Prior to heading out on the trail, the ranger showed our family the difference between a rattlesnake and gopher snake at the visitor center.  My children were immediately terrified due to all the noise the rattlesnake was making, but they slowly came in closer to the cages for a better look.

Selfie with a Rattlesnake

Hiking with kids slows down everything so ALL my snake encounters have been with my children.  I never saw snakes before we had children, not because they weren't there but because we probably hiked right past them and never saw them.  All our past snake encounters have been at a safe distance and since our children were small, they were high in their carriers.  FYI, no one got hurt during our last encounter except that I aged about 10 years from the scare.


1st Encounter - Rattlesnake: What Happened?
A mile into our first backpacking trip of the year, as were reached the picnic area of the park we took a little spur trail that crossed into some empty horse corrals.  My 4 year old son is the designated  "gate opener", so he opened the gate so the family could walk in.  Not more than five feet passed the gate, was a rattlesnake protecting a squirrel that it had just killed but my husband nor I saw it.

The victim....

As my son ran to catch up to my husband (three feet away from the rattlesnake), he suddenly saw and heard the rattlesnake and immediately turn around and started running, crying and screaming.  It was a DEATH scream.

I immediately got tunnel vision and all I could only see was my little boy running from a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike.

I grabbed my son, almost fell over as I dragged him to a safe distance, while my husband tried to catch his balance and run away with about 70 lbs on his back.  My husband's pack was 43 lbs alone, but our daughter was in the carrier during the rattlesnake encounter which made him very off balance.

We quickly made it over to the asphalt and headed to the picnic tables for a long break.  We explained to the kids that they did a great job protecting themselves and that the rattlesnake was probably more scared of us.  Our son was a little more shaken up than my daughter....she actually said "The rattlesnake is so cute!".

Out of mere morbid curiosity, I went back (by myself on the asphalt) to the scene of the crime to see if I could see the rattlesnake but all I found was a dead squirrel waiting to be eaten by the rattlesnake.  My mind was playing tricks on me and all the sticks looked like snakes near the squirrel, so I went back to the picnic tables.


2nd Encounter - Gopher Snake: What Happened?
As we reached the second mile, my son walked towards the gate to open it and my husband calmly said, "Snake".  This time my son did not scream but stepped back quickly and I immediately identified it as a Gopher Snake, which my son said "Mommy THAT one is not a poisonous one!!" and smiled.

We watched it for a few minutes, talked about the Gopher Snake and waited patiently until it slithered away into the grass.  We congratulated the kids again for being calm and careful on our second snake encountered and continued on with our trek.

A Few Learning Points
Of course these aren't the only things to do to protect against snakes, but more of "What I Learned" from our double snake encounter:

• Talk to your kids about snakes and other wildlife BEFORE heading outdoors.
• Learn about the types of snakes that are in your area and teach your kids how to identify them as well.
• If you have a "scary" snake experience, talk about the incident later when your kids are calm.
• Hiking "Sandwich" Order: Adult - Children - Adult.  To protect children from snakes and other wildlife.
• Check out "Snake Safety While Hiking" by Walk Simply, about hiking with kids and snake encounters. 

Please refer to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife "Rattlesnakes in California" for more information on protecting yourself and what to do if someone gets bitten.  Also please educate yourself about the snakes in your area.

Snakes are a part of nature both in the outdoors and our urban areas.  There is a fear factor in snakes but that fear is diminished as we learn that they are part of the Nature-s Cycle of Life.

Have you ever had a snake encounter with your kids?

Related Post: Happy Times at Black Diamond Mines: Family Backpacking [Video]

Join in on the conversation by leaving a comment here! You can also join in on the conversations on Chasqui Mom's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that is updated daily with outdoor activities and other wonderful posts and links from #OutdoorFamilies!

Book Review: Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle by Jennifer Chambers

My soul hurt when I walked along the magnificent Amazon River in Peru and saw the shores littered with bottles, bags and other trash.  I turned to my husband and said "How can this be? This is THE Amazon River..."  My cousin, an elementary teacher in the Amazons, responded with "People just don't care..."

Why don't people care? That's something I wondered for a long time.  As a child, I vividly remember watching a video segment on saving ocean wildlife.  I remember seeing ducks covered in oil, fish caught in plastic bags and a beautiful turtle stuck in a 6-pack plastic ring, which they said would have never happened if the ring would have been cut into small pieces and recycled. Those images have stayed with me and 25 years later I'm still cutting up the 6-pack plastic rings into tiny pieces before recycling them.

"Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle" by Jennifer Chambers is a wonderful children's book which follows the life of a water bottle named "Scout" that was dropped into the street, goes down the drains and into the ocean.  Scout encounters many animals and insects along the creeks and rivers of Washington DC.  All the animals share their stories with Scout about how their lives are affected by the trash that pollutes their homes.  Not only are Scout's adventures into Chesapeake Bay entertaining but it is also very educational and eye opening to children.  The Watershed Heros, Alima and her mother, are great examples that I could show my children of how we could help the environment.












What did my toddlers love about this book?

• Illustrations ~ My toddlers loved the illustrations by Jesse Auth.  Very life-like and creatively simple, all the animals were a big hit in this household especially the turtle!
• The Ocean ~ It is very close to their hearts! My children absolutely love rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds and especially the ocean.  Reading about an adventure on any waterway is always fun for my children!
• Conflict-Resolution ~ I've noticed that around the age of two my toddlers are able to understand the concept of conflict-resolution and don't like it when their favorite characters, in this case the Scout and the animals, are in trouble.  My daughter said "It's scary" when the turtle was choking on the bag but I was able to continue reading about how Scout helped the turtle, which was a great teaching opportunity.

What did I love about this book?

• Educational ~ This book is not just a story but educational to children AND adults!  There were a few terms that I was not familiar within the story, but thankfully there is a Glossary of Terms in the back of the book.  I also knew that plastic could be recycled but for some reason I never really understood that plastic never goes away.  Now I know!
• Resourceful ~ There is a list of organizations and websites such as the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Surfrider Foundation, Ocean Conservancy and many more environmental non-profit organizations that can provide more information on how to help.  Chambers also has a list of "10 Tips to Reduce the Use of Disposable Plastics".
• Worthy Cause ~ 100% of the profits of "Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle" goes to support the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Surfrider Foundation Rise Above Plastics program.  How great is that!
• Readable for all ages ~ The reading comprehension might be a little above toddler level but I was able to quickly summarize the story appropriate for my toddlers.  It will be a book that will grow with my children.

What can YOU do to help?

• Clean Up!  Any time you leave your house and see trash/plastics/cans on the street, pick it up.  It would be great if we could all volunteer for a coastal clean up once or twice a year but taking little steps every day like picking up a bottle on the street will stop stories like "Scout" from ever happening.  I highly recommend finding an regional organization to do a coastal/riverside cleanup in your area. Also, being a hiking family we always have our eyes open for trash on the trail that could be picked up! In this case, a Mylar balloon was on a hillside that could have easily been washed away in the creeks.  That's my little boy hiking up the hill to get the balloon, clean up time isn't just for toys at home! 

• Use Reusable Bags ~ I'm very proud that my county has enacted a ban on plastic grocery bags.  It might take getting used to taking your own bags to the grocery store but it really does make a difference! My city looks cleaner already and knowing that there are less and less bags in the environment makes me happy!
• Share About "Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle" ~ Share this post on social media, You Tube video, tell someone about the Scout's story, purchase a few books and give them as gifts to children and parents.  The more people know about what happens in our waterways the better our environment will be. (Paperback: $7.99 & E-Book: $6.99 - 44 pages)

Chasqui Mom Last Thoughts...

Going back to my original question, I believe people do not care because they do not see the consequences of their actions.  One water bottle might not seem like a lot but thousands of them end up on the shores, create "plastic islands" in the ocean and end up hurting wildlife in and out of the ocean.  One of the many responsibilities of being parents is teaching our future generations to take care of our "Sachamama" or Mother Earth which includes our waterways.  Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle is a great book to ignite the love of taking care of our Earth in our children.  Everything is interconnected from San Francisco Bay to the Chesapeake Bay to the Amazon River in South America, let's work together to make our watersheds cleaner!

What will you do to help your near by watershed?

Join in on the conversation by leaving a comment here! You can also join in on the conversations on Chasqui Mom's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that is updated daily with outdoor activities and other wonderful posts and links from #OutdoorFamilies!

Related Posts and Links

1.  Jennifer Chambers blog and website: Hiking Along and "Watershed Adventures of a Water Bottle"
2. Chesapeake Bay Trust
3. Surfrider Foundation

Jennifer Chambers generously provided this book for the purposes of a review. As always these are my true and honest opinions.

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Jennifer Chambers is a middle school Science teacher, environmental educator, author of two books, outdoor blogger and owner of Hiking Along LLC.  Her nature playscape is Washington DC where she loves to hike with her two kids.