When we were in Hawaii we visited Pearl Harbor and they had a really neat junior ranger program. Judah had a booklet he was given when we arrived there and it had various questions and activities for him to complete that helped to engage him in what he was seeing. We had a great time with it and I feel like it really helped him to learn and understand more than he would have without doing the booklet. When he was finished he took it back to the park ranger and he asked Judah some questions and flipped through the booklet to make sure he completed it. Then Judah had to say a pledge about promising to continue learning about nature and history, recycling, teaching other people, etc. And then he got a little junior park ranger badge. We had never heard about the program and in talking with the ranger he told us to always ask at National Parks because they should have a similar program at each of them.
Judah was so excited when we asked at Nisqually and they had it too. It had a treasure hunt list of things for him to find. Something red, a blue heron, something that smells, etc. It also had some questions that he had to read the plaques to find the answers to them. He now knows what a nurse log is and the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees!
We did the Estuary Trail and Boardwalk. It was around 4 miles, with the boardwalk part extending out 1 mile over the water. We were there when the tide was out so it was just mud we were walking over so we'll have to go back sometime when the tide is in because I think it would be neat to walk out over the water like that.
This was a walk we all enjoyed doing. The boardwalk was nice because the boys could run ahead or lag behind but we knew they weren't going to stray from the path and get lost. There are a lot of serious birdwatchers there and I did feel like I had to tell the boys to be quiet a lot which was kind of a bummer. Jax did have to be carried for part of it but I expected that, 4 miles was a little far for his legs. It took us around 2 1/2 hours to do but that was with a stop at the lookout at the end for a snack, lots of stops to cross stuff off of Judah's treasure hunt list, and some slow poking of kids. We also did the 2nd half of the twin barns loop on the way back stopping at the Nisqually River overlook (we saw a baby bald eagle) and the Riparian Forest overlook. If it had just been me and Justin I'm sure we could have completed it in at least half the amount of time. We're hoping to go back in the summer when the tree's have their leaves and everything is in bloom, it's going to look like a whole different place. I think the boys will be amazed at the difference!
It did cost $3 for us to get in and there are no dogs allowed. We were hoping to take Sophie so I'm glad I checked online before we went. Although 4 miles might have been too much exercise for her!
