Touch a Truck

The other day we took a field trip to our local Touch a Truck event. It's pretty neat. They park a whole bunch of trucks in a parking lot and the children get a hands on feel for the different kinds vehicles. They got to sit in the drivers seat, honk the horns and fiddle with all the buttons. J loves anything with a motor, so this event caused him to be in heaven!
He got to experience a front end loader:

A tractor along with a school bus, a fire engine, a police car, a tow truck, and an ambulance among others:

It was a fantastic day:

:: field trip to Plum Creek ::

It was early and it was hot. What better way to cool off  than a walk through the forest preserve and a trek through Plum Creek Nature center.

First we hiked through the Trail of Thoughts (love the name). Then we explored the prairie flower trail (he was more interested in the gravel and bird feeders than the flowers)

He didn't care too much for the large turtle shell:

or the branch building blocks:

he liked the bees:

spared a passing glance for the owls:

he didn't want to let the magnifying glass go, but I was afraid he would break it:

All in all it was great way to spend an hour before morning nap, even if he was a little tired (hence the bottle never leaving his mouth)