The Cemetary

We went on a field trip not to long ago to Mount Pleasant Cemetary, not for any scare worthy purposes, but rather, to go and observe and learn about all the unqiue tree types that line the grounds there. This is a great place to go, as you can venture out on your own discovery walk, which is what we did. It was a perfect day to go, with beautiful weather. When we got there, we had some snack to refuel our bodies and then headed out to look at all of the different trees. We had a nice discussion while having snack about how important trees are; not only in providing us with air to breathe, but also to provide food and shelter for our animal friends. This led us into a disucssion of how important trees are to our eco-systems and our health. We talked about that trees, just like people, go through different growing phases, and that a tree starts from a tiny seed and grows and grows. There were so many tree types around us, we talked about the difference between trees that loose their leaves, and trees that don't like ever greens. I think our favourite trees that day were the Japanese Maple and the Birch trees.

On our way down to the subway using the buddy system to navigate the tricky stairs.

Having a little chat as we waited for the train, talking about how windy they think it will be when the train arrives.

We had a bit of fun trying to find our way out of the subway station, so we rode the elevator looking for a way out...it was fun!

Going up the big stairs, almost there!

Finally at the top, woo-hoo! The kids and I looked at the map, trying to figure out where we should go and what we should do.

We walked through this beautiful arch way to the colourful trees awaiting us.

We thought it would be a good idea to stop for snack, re-fuel our bodies and have a little chat before we went off on our walk.

We couldn't decide which way to go, and this happened many times as the pathways often split. The kids agreed upon the different routes we should take, and we couldn't believe all of the trees that were there. We talked about counting the rings on the tree stump to tell its age, or by looking at its trunk and height to help us decide if it is a young or old tree.

We found a chestnut tree! Looking to see if there were any chestnuts we could gather.

I think we had a great day. The weather was right, and we got to learn about many different tree types. We were lucky that the trees were labelled, and we could count and compare the different types.