You may have noticed postings around here have been a little sparse this summer. It's been incredibly busy and incredibly fun.

What you may not know, if you don't know me in "real" life, is that I work 30 hours a week at Montana State University as well as freelance writing. I'm beefing up my freelance work because we are planning a big adventure in a year or so and I need to be able to work from anywhere.

Plus, I have those two kids. They go to daycare twice a week, but fitting more than full-time work into a few days (and a lot of nights) can be challenging at times. And I have been so lucky to have a bunch of outdoor adventures this summer.

We've camped and hiked in Glacier National Park.

Felt a lot of small town pride at our parade.

Watched otters and spawning trout in Yellowstone.

Played at the new Museum of the Rockies exhibit.

Taken silly photos.

Threw rocks in the Boiling River.

Floated a small section of the Yellowstone River.

Rode horses.

Hiked through the Hoodoos in Yellowstone.

I spent four days in Yellowstone with a girlfriend-sans kids.

Played by the river.

Covered our ears at the Demolition Derby.

Took swimming lessons and played in the city pool.

Celebrated Finn turning two (there are officially no babies in the house.)

I went on a horsepacking trip somewhere beautiful. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to pack a horse into the backcountry! (Thank you! I'll be here all night!)

And that's not everything. I've been doing a lot more connecting with nature than writing about connecting with nature.

So, I am going to take a little time off from this blog to collect my thoughts and get re-inspired. Maybe a week, maybe a month. I hope you'll grant me this little sojourn and be here when I get back!

I'm off in the woods for a few days, so I leave you with this post from September 2008. Enjoy.

I just found this website--Weather Wiz Kids--with all sorts of great explanations and definitions of different types of weather. They also have a bunch of experiments related to weather and weather-monitoring.

In this experiment kids can make their own barometer. A barometer measures atmospheric pressure. The air in the atmosphere exerts pressure that constantly changes due to moving weather systems.

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...playing in the Yellowstone River.

I know you've been keeping an eye on that countdown clock in the right column. Today's the day that the clock runs out and the Your Wild Child store opens.

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Looking for a hike in your neighborhood? I found a new (to me) search tool on Backpacker.com. You enter your zip code in the search field and --presto! hikes in your area appear.

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I love all things Swedish. Long summers, down-to-earth-outdoorsy people, those gummy fish, lakes, cross-country skiing and painted horses. I even named my first born "Anders"--a very Swedish name (and one given to about a third of the men on my family tree).

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I’ve been a little lax about posting lately. It is just that I am having so much fun this summer. I’ll be back to my old posting shenanigans soon—at least my mid-fall

Trail report

If you don’t have a stick, but you have all day—this activity is for you. You can use the sun and a stick to make a compass of sorts.

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