Tag Archives: west linn

Mar 18

BACKYARD BUG HUNTING

I went out to the backyard to do some bug hunting! We have lots of leaves and stones to uncover, so we knew it would be a promising place.

Almost immediately, I found a centipede!

Then look, it was a pill bug!

It rolled up in my hand when I picked it up.

Rolling over rocks is a good way to find some bugs.

Millipede! You might not want to pick them up if you don’t want to experience pain. They can release a toxin that irritates skin. I learned that the hard way.

Snail finding!

We uncovered paving stones that had tons of worms and snails.

And this green stink bug!

We’ve seen lots of brown ones, but this was our first green one.

Why was I so excited here?

Because I found newts! NEWTS! These were under a rock in the park across the street.

I mean, how cool are these?

I found out later that they release a toxin, as well. It’s not painful, but wash your hands after you hold them! And definitely don’t eat them.

Then I found the baby! Wow, what a super successful bug hunting expedition!

Mar 17

SEARCHING FOR CENTIPEDES

I’ve been looking for centipedes at school for weeks, with no luck. Finally, I went to Midhill Park with my friend, Aliah, who knows a lot about finding bugs. We found an old fallen tree and looked there.

First we found this really cool pattern that was made, mostly likely, by some kind of bark beetle.

Then we found this interesting bug, which we first thought might be a wasp. But we Googled it and discovered it’s a Banded Ash Borer.

Then, finally, finally! We found a centipede! I caught it in this jar and brought it home to look at more closely. I’ll return it to the park tomorrow!

Oct 9

PRIMARY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND TOUR, PART 2

We continued our primary school playground tour, starting with my very own (and very favorite), Cedaroaks!

I showed Mommy and Daddy how I like to hang on the monkey bars and then drop down.

I also really love the swings.

But probably my very favorite is the play structure.

Then we went a little down the road to Bolton Primary. Those poor children don’t have a very good playground. But I still had a fun time. (And our last school, Stafford Primary, had their playground locked. Maybe we’ll try next weekend!)

Mar 27

A SPRING WALK

It was a lovely spring day, so we went for a walk!

There was still evidence of February’s ice storm on the trails.

Daddy and I tried to karate chop this tree out of the way.

Mar 13

CANBY FERRY

I’ve been wanting to ride a ferry for a while. Luckily, I found one really close, called the Canby Ferry. We drove to it on a sunny day. It holds four entire cars and takes a full two minutes to cross the Willamette River!

I’m riding on it right now!

Mar 11

MILO PLAYDATE

Milo was in my kindergarten class and is also in my online 1st grade class. Exactly one year and one day after I last saw him, I went to his backyard to play! His brother, Max, is really fun, too.