Through the Lens of an Nine Year Old: Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida

Yesterday afternoon, we decided to take a little adventure and visit Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach. Wakodathatchee is a Seminole Indian phrase that means  “created waters.” The Wakodahatchee Wetlands was constructed by Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department next to the existing Water Treatment Plant. This project has significantly enhanced about 56 acres of former percolation ponds into a thriving wetlands habitat. It has been one of our family’s favorite nature spots since Eben was an infant.

Wakodahatchee is a thriving wetlands Eco system where you can observe a large assortment of animals and plants. Our favorites are the alligator’s (we saw 3 yesterday including a juvenile), several different types of turtles and the numerous types of birds. Since Eben really wants to be a photographer for National Geographic when he grows up, he took all of the pictures yesterday and here are some of our favorites.You can see all of Eben’s pictures here.

Does your family enjoy nature walks? 

Does your child know what they want to be when they grow up?

Book Adventure of the Week: How to Behave and Why

The Sweet Greens Family loves, loves, loves to read. Since we are getting ready for back to school, I picked up the perfect book to remind Eben of how to behave at school. How to Behave and Why is the children’s classic from the best-selling author of Ferdinand (another Lyon Family favorite) – Munro Leaf.

How to Behave and Why reminds us that no matter who you are, there are four main things that you have to do if you want to make and keep good friends forever. The four things are: You have to be HONEST. You have to be STRONG. You have to be FAIR. and You have to be WISE.

This book gives fun and sincere lessons in the virtues of Honesty, Fairness, Strength and Wisdom with simple, yet sweet illustrations that will delight you and your little ones. My favorite parts are on Strength and wisdom – I think this is a must have book for all family libraries.

What books do the members of your family adore?

*Book Adventure of the Week is a new weekly series here at Sweet Greens, where I would love to share some of the books from our own book shelves with you. If you have a book to recommend, I would love to hear about it, please send me a message to mysweetgreens@gmail.com.

Green Your Back to School: Eco Friendly Back Packs

Eben will be starting 4th grade next week, so it’s time for a new backpack! We want to choose one that is nice looking, Eco friendly and can be used for several years. Here are some of the options that I found.

Land’s End Eco Friendly Backpack $ 49.50

This Land’s End Backpack is made of 100% recycled fabric and has a locking system for attaching an Eco friendly stainless steel water bottle. I like that it is made for kids so it would be the right size and that 100% recycled fabric is fantastic! It can also be monogrammed, which I think is a fantastic way to make sure that you can find your child’s pack if lost at school.

Mobile Edge Eco Backpack $ 47.99

This backpack by Mobile Edge made from an Eco friendly canvas and has a lifetime warranty. I love that it has a lifetime warranty, that would be great since it would be used by a child.

Osprey Packs at Patagonia $ 61.99

This Osprey Pack is made from 72% recycled materials including buckles made from 100% reground buckle scrap. I love that this is a perfect dual purpose pack, could be used for school during the week and hiking on the weekend.

Or, if you are crafty, you can make one like the first photo from Make Me Studio. Wow! I would love to make a backpack like that.

I think we will be ordering the Land’s End pack, it has everything that we are looking for, including the ability to have it monogrammed and will look super cute with his shoes!

What type of backpack does your child use for back to school?
Do you use the backpack for other activities as well?
Would you pay more for a backpack if you knew it would last longer?

Sweet Greens Goodies Club – Are You a Member?

Surprise! Last month Sweet Greens Goodies Club Subscribers received a fabulous yummy bar of Soap from One. One bar soaps are good for your body and good for the environment and smell delicious too! Augutst goodies are ready to go in the mail. Are you a member of Sweet Greens’ Goodies Club? If not, there is still time to join for August, just click here.

Have a Lovely Weekend + A Few Green Things

Hello Everyone. How was your week? Mine was a whirlwind, but in a good way. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon with lovely friends, including Ms. Cameron Mora from Cameron Mora Photography. Isn’t spending a Friday afternoon with friends the perfect way to end a week? Then, we visited City Place, which is like Fort Collins Old Town – on Steroids. Think: a ton of high end shopping, lots and lots of people and live music performances. I picked up the perfect back to school gift for Eben, a lovely little book, that I can’t wait to share with you next week in a new series I call: Great Books for Kids. I found the book at one of my favorite shops, Anthropology. Then, the three of us shared a yummy cherry filled cupcake from Sugar Chef Cupcakes. Good times.

Tonight, we are heading to Miami to spend the evening with Grandpa Sweet Greens and his lovely and talented girlfriend, Phyllis – from Phused by Phyllis. Phyllis is making us dinner and we are bringing dessert – a little something lovely from Whole Foods. Yum. Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to the beach and I am looking forward to spending the day snorkeling with Eben. Snorkeling is his new favorite pastime and he spends hours each weekend finding the most amazing seashells. (I will share pictures next week!)

So, while I finish up my huge weekend to do list and get ready for my evening in Miami, here are few lovely green things that I have been wanting to share with you.

– These favorite summer recipes look yummy.
– I love Ampersands and this one is the loveliest of the lovelies.
– A baby porcupine, really? It doesn’t get much cuter than this.
– Have you seen Cheyenne? This is why I am a dog person.
– After a cross country move – me too! Chakra Pennywhistle has finally reopened with new designs that will make you smile. FYI: Rikkianne and I have a surprise in the making – can’t wait to share it with you!
– Jennifer @ Earth Friendly Weddings finally had her baby girl. Congratulations! Sophia is beautiful.
– Now this is my kind of bar. Cheers!
– Need to beat the heat? Have some marble fun with your kids this weekend.

** I am going to start writing very regularly on my blog at Inhabitots. Are there any green kids subjects that you would like me to touch on?

I will see you bright and early on Monday morning. Have a lovely green weekend.

xo,
Sweet Greens

P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win your choice of 5 lovely bags from Envirosax!

photo credit