"School's out for summer!" 
I sang that notorious verse by Alice Cooper to my daughter the other day and she was totally unimpressed.  Granted, my singing would never land me that coveted yellow sheet of paper, but just the prospect of having the whole summer ahead of us was exciting to me. While thinking about it, for a fleeting moment, I felt like I was six again. But, she was nonchalant about it and the freedom she now had ahead of her and all the possibilities 10 sunlit hours bring.  As for my two, soon-to-be-three year-old son, for him summer means many wonderful days of hanging out with Mom.  He amazingly just goes with the flow and is content doing anything I do.

• An excellent “nature finder” tool that lets you simply type in your zip code and find the nearest forest, park or nature sanctuary
• Lots of fun online games that will teach you and your and kids interesting things about nature, like how to identify wildlife tracks or use a compass
• Tips on how to help get your kids outside and enjoying nature, including an activity book of stuff to do when out in nature

It's no secret that my family thinks Gus Nightingale from the DVD series Gus Outdoors is a cool kid.  Mom is a fan for all the typical "mom" reasons --- his videos are educational, he is a good role model, etc., etc.  My six-year-old and two-year-old are enthralled by him because he does fun, cool stuff and they enjoy watching his nature explorations.  Plus, what kid can resist being taught words like "regurgitation" and then shown what it means!  Yuck --- but way cool!

Tomorrow is World Ocean's Day.  In celebration of this occasion, I invite you to read and enjoy an interview with a parent we can all appreciate.  Not only does he spends lots of quality time outside enjoying nature with his son, but he films their explorations and discoveries, and has created a DVD series for all children to enjoy!

I had the unique privilege of interviewing Sean Nightingale, creator of the fabulous Gus Outdoors DVD series for kids.  If you have been following my blog, you know my kids and I are fans of the series and of Gus, Sean's son and star of the show.  To date, Gus's adventures have focused on exploring the ocean and coastal environments. He gets up-close-and-personal with gulls, piping plovers, their chicks and many other plants and critters that depend on the ocean to live.