from ice to may apples: adventures in the first half of the year

 January rambles along the Susquehanna near Marietta, PA

 January rambles along the Susquehanna near Marietta, PA

 Visiting with Melanie and Jake in NYC in late January.

 Lena and her friends working on a paper airplane project for their school science fair.

 Snowy hills while Lancaster thaws - late winter adventures near Trout Run on the Appalachian Trail about an hour north of us.

 Rocking out at home.

 Rocking out at home.

 Sorting M&Ms with kiddos for an isotope lab for one of Paul's classes.

 Celebrating Hazel's 4th birthday!

 Hazel's birthday festivities.

 Sledding through Spalding Conservancy on the edge of Lancaster (with Morgan and me as the dog team) with the gap tooth sled driver.

 Spring thaw on the south side of our house. Good time to hang out and apply muddy moss to one's feet.

 Spring migration at Middle Creek

 Tundra swans at Middle Creek in March

 Spring migration at Middle Creek = buffet. Check out the black dot in the lower left.

 One of the scenes from the papercut animation our family worked on this spring with some F&M folks for a collaborative class project (https://vimeo.com/124857527)

 Early early morning at Middle Creek with geese, swans, coffee and donuts, and a big time chill in the air.

 Preparing papercuts for our animation one night in the department.

 Hunting easter eggs in the backyard.

 
Raised beds built by our friend Denison.

 Magnolia blossoms outside Paul's office.

 Resident red tailed hawk on the F&M campus.

Paul visiting Hazel & Lena's classes. Shocking that everyone's favorite was the fossil poop! What about the mollusks?! Where is the love?

 Hot spring walk with Izze, Vanessa & Leon at Soldier's Delight Natural Environment Area.

 Serpentine barrens at Soldier's Delight.

 Vanessa and Paul on the barrens (a kid's eye view).

 Serpentine barrens.

 Exploring Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve later in the spring.

 Bluebells and trilliums at Shenk's Ferry.

 View from Urey Overlook on the west side of the Susquehanna.

 What is this tree with the spectacular leaves?

 Jack are you in your pulpit?

 Spring woods near Otter Creek on the west banks of the Susquehanna

 Paul in his lab

 May apple

 Paul in his lab

 Hazel dancing in our community garden plot

 Camping with Ben, Crytal, and their daughters at Ravensburg State Park over memorial day

 The kiddos on the camping trip.

 Any idea what this plant is?

 Ben & Hannah at Ravensburg State Park

Morgan and Lena at Ravensburg State Park