Our Day Honouring the Earth

Although Lyla is still too young to understand Earth Day, this year we wanted to do something special, which will hopefully be the start of a tradition for many years to come.

On Earth Day, we decided to spend it as a family out exploring nature.  We had hoped to go to FortWhyte Alive, but after discovering how busy it was, we decided to go somewhere that my husband had never been and that I hadn't been for years: Oak Hammock Marsh.  From their website: "This 36 km2 Wildlife Management Area features a restored prairie marsh, aspen-oak bluff, waterfowl lure crops, artesian springs, some of Manitoba's last remaining patches of tall-grass prairie and 30 kilometers of trails for you to explore.

I was excited to take Lyla here for her first Earth Day because it would allow us to discover something new, spend some time outdoors, and take in a session or two that would teach us how our family could be more environmentally friendly.

When we got there, we started off our visit with a presentation on water stewardship and we discussed things that we could do as a family to help save water.  Did you know that even though the earth is covered in over 70% water, less than 1% of it is useable?  That's a neat little fact we learned at the session and one I hope to share with Lyla as she gets older.

Lyla having fun with Mommy.

Daddy showing the birds to Lyla.

Lyla - the Boreal Biologist :)

After that, we spent some time indoors looking at the exhibits, which Lyla seemed to enjoy - there were so many new things to discover!  Then, we went for a walk outside to enjoy the trails.  During our walk we saw lots of birds and other critters.  It is great to see that areas such as Oak Hammock Marsh are protected to allow families to come and see nature at it's best!  These are things you just don't see in the city.

Overall, we had a great Earth Day!  Besides lots of photographs and new memories, we walked away with more knowledge about the earth and even a couple of tree planting kits, which we plan to plant as a family later this summer at our new house.

Disclosure:  I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.