Today my good friend, Melissa, and I took our four kids to Badger Mountain to hike the three-mile, round trip, trail to the top. This is a major accomplishment for our kids, requiring multiple refreshment breaks, motivational songs and speeches, and a small amount of being carried. The first half of the hike up is usually the hardest. They are leaving behind a very enticing 
playground and are starting to feel sore and tired legs. Today, however, they had something new sparking their interest in the hike. Wildflowers all around us and next to the trail. It was such a beautiful thing watching the kids drag their fingers through the tall grass and squatting down to choose a small, perfect flower to "take home for Dad."The bugs were also out in full force, we saw two enormous bumble bees that would bend over any flower that they landed on, lots of the stinky black beetles that point their tail end at you when you touch them, one strange bug that Amelia aptly dubbed a "fly beetle". There were two birds bouncing tamely alongside the trail and a raven soaring below us in a ravine. One deep and mysterious hole that was possibly home to a badger or snake, according to the kids. And the prize of all prizes: a furry caterpillar making its way across the trail, which we were able to rescue.
Each of the kids were holding a 
wildflower, and I think Melissa and I were each holding one too, when two (TWO!) men, separately, felt the need to reprimand me for picking flowers. Apparently we were breaking laws left and right. While I understand that Badger Mountain is a delicate ecosystem (like all desert ecosystems are) and has taken its fair share of abuse lately (like a 4-wheeling pick-up stuck in a ravine for weeks after rolling down from the top of the mountain), the kids were just getting in touch with their love of nature. It really, really bugs me that these people felt it necessary to comment on this. There are numerous "rules of the trail" that I am working on teaching the kids: stay on the trail (mostly), no rolling rocks off the side of the trail, no kicking the dirt walls of the trail, get to one side of the trail when anyone else wants by, etc...
wildflower, and I think Melissa and I were each holding one too, when two (TWO!) men, separately, felt the need to reprimand me for picking flowers. Apparently we were breaking laws left and right. While I understand that Badger Mountain is a delicate ecosystem (like all desert ecosystems are) and has taken its fair share of abuse lately (like a 4-wheeling pick-up stuck in a ravine for weeks after rolling down from the top of the mountain), the kids were just getting in touch with their love of nature. It really, really bugs me that these people felt it necessary to comment on this. There are numerous "rules of the trail" that I am working on teaching the kids: stay on the trail (mostly), no rolling rocks off the side of the trail, no kicking the dirt walls of the trail, get to one side of the trail when anyone else wants by, etc... I am just not willing to curtail their flower picking. They were being careful and thoughtful, just choosing a flower here and there to add to the handful that was carried to the top of the mountain and back down again. I loved picking wildflowers when I was a girl, and I still love being outside, especially when they are in bloom. I think the benefits of
having our kids out using the hiking trails and parks and learning to love nature far outweigh the environmental impact of them picking the odd flower or peeing alongside the trail (thank goodness we didn't caught doing that!). These are the kids that are going to grow up to protect this place because they love it and had wonderful experiences there during their childhoods. (Although you can't tell it from her expression, Chelsie really did like spotting beetles too.) 