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Health & Fitness

Curious By Nature School is Moving This Month!

Curious by Nature School at it's new location at Mallard's Landing II. We'll reopen in August 2012.

Our last day of school was on Monday, and it was a bittersweet farewell to the children and families, as we also bit farewell to our current location at the HOPE Center. The has been such a great place to call home these first couple of years. But now, we are growing, changing, and moving to our permanent location.

Just down the road, our new location at the Mallard's Landing area has so much more nature to offer children and families. When I scoped out the location this past spring, I walked the nature trails at , just steps away from our new building entrance of 7191 Wagner Way.

I was astounded at the rich plant and animal varieties, which are found due to the area is protected wetlands, complete with a large pond that the trail surrounds. I couldn't believe how quiet it was, due to the low embankment and lush forest that buffers the traffic noise coming from Wollochet and Hwy 16.

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This gem of a trail system is a little kept secret that is about to be shared with our community. Shortly after signing the lease on our new space, I led a family nature walk with a group of existing parents and children from our school.

We walked the trails within an hour, stopping along the way to identify many plant and animal varieties. Being it was spring, the salmonberry and snowberry bushes were flowering. We saw slugs, squirrels, ducks and geese. A wide variety of bird calls where the only thing we could hear. We stopped at all 3 view landings, which overlook the lake. The children delighted in spotting the huge lily pads and waterfowl visible from the landings.

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Almost a mile long, we ended our nature walk near a huge old growth tree, which the children quickly identified as the biggest tree on the trail. They knew how to tell how old a tree is by counting its rings. Even though they couldn't see the rings, the width of the tree trunk is so big, we estimated this cedar is hundreds of years old. Children at also know how to identify the native trees in the forest, Western Red Cedar, Douglas fir, and Hemlock.

The most fun was seeing the children's faces light up along the way. Nature does that to people. I have a feeling the Adam Tallman Nature Park will not be a little hidden gem in the Harbor for much longer.

Visit www.curiousbynature.org for more information.

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