Happy Halloween! We enjoyed a boo-tiful morning together. We first listened to a story about a brave old lady who was not afraid of anything, even when she heard clomp, clomp, shake, shake, boo, boo in the woods… We talked about the costumes we will be wearing tonight and decided Ms. Paige should be a nature ninja. We read another silly story about a “ghost,” who turned out to be a mouse that had a belly full of candy!

Outside, we found creepy crawlies and channeled our inner dinosaur and played a round of dino tag before hitting the trails to look for spooky things. We found American bittersweet berries that are red and orange, which are good fall colors. We were brave and peered inside holes in the trees along the trail, where we found mushrooms and lots of spider webs. We stopped to admire the Boardman River on the Mini Mac bridge, which wiggles when we jump on it (it is suspended by cables). While on the trail, we realized how much farther we can see through the woods now that the leaves have fallen. One section of the trail even seems brighter than usual now that the sun can shine through.

At the frog boardwalk, we noticed plants with spikes on their leaves. These help protect the plant from animals that might try to eat it, just like a porcupine’s quills protect it from predators. We were not expecting to find any critters on the boardwalk, but a green frog popped out of the water and a painted turtle swam right past us! Back at the Nature Center, we passed around animal furs and skulls because what better way is there to celebrate Halloween than with animal skeletons?!