Since I last wrote...

Me on Devils Playground

Mike feeding a wild bird.

a marmot peeking out from the rocks.

I have been so super busy! I have done so much since I last blogged!  I have hiked from the Crags to Devils playground which is above the tree line over 13,000 ft in altitude!  The air is thinner at that elevation and there isn't enough oxygen for big trees to grow.  Some people who aren't used to the altitude get very dizzy and breath oxygen they bring up with them in cans.  I tried some myself...  I didn't notice a difference.  Where the trees stop growing is called the timberline.   It's called the Devils Playground because the rock formations have a lot of iron in them and therefore when thunderstorms roll in, it's hit by lightening over and over again. Mike had wild birds eating from his hand.  There are also these animals called marmots and they live very high up in the mountains among the rocks.  They are very cute and they chirp to each other.  It sounds like really loud baby chickens peeping.

me showing you the Autumn leaves

me sitting on a cairn

this is me trying to breath!

I hiked September 1st around Catamount reservoir and crossed the dam. I even saw a real Columbine (Colorados state flower) growing wild on a hillside!  The trees here have started changing colors for Autumn, it's going to be sooo pretty!  I'm already feeling the air starting to be cooler.

Me and a pretty weed.

Me sitting on the dam. The reservoir behind me.

Me and the little Columbine flower.

Wednesday we hiked to the Crags and down a different way this time.  There wasn't much time for pictures because we had a really fast group of hikers with us!

Me sitting in a hollow tree! 

Thursday, September 6th Danielle and I climbed the Manitou Incline.  It is 2,768 stairs.  It is about one mile long, but it goes up 2000 feet! Danielle's legs were super duper tired and I was swinging from her hat and having a great time!  When we got to the top we took the Barr Trail another 3.25 miles back down to the parking lot.

At the bottom ready to start!

At the top!

At the end! 

Today was September 8th and I finally got to hike Seven Bridges.  It isn't a very long hike, only about 4 miles, but there are really 7 bridges over a small creek and it's shady and wooded and beautiful. Well, this blog may not be arranged very well, but I'm going to post my pictures for you anyhow because I don't want to fall any farther behind!  I hope you like seeing the pictures of my latest adventures! Comment below!

Me on bridge number 6!

Me under bridge number 7!

It's so much fun to PLAY OUTSIDE!

the view through the clear air

Me and my new buddy, Bacon.

So I want to encourage you to get outside.  I have been having the best time ever going on hikes!  This week I hiked with Danielle to St. Mary's Falls twice!  The smoke in the area has cleared out from the wildfires making the views clear and beautiful.  We went last Monday and again today and you'll never guess what happened!  I was hanging from Danielle's hat strap, swinging as she walked. Danielle LOVES dogs so she bent over to pet someones dog and the dog thought I was a doggie toy and tried to eat me!  He gently held me in his mouth and pulled on me to try to get me loose and Danielle said, "Don't eat Toodles!" and he let go!  I was terrified, but quickly I learned that he just wanted to play.  I also got a new friend, his name is Bacon and he hangs out with Danielle's husband, Michael.  Bacon is a tiny pig! ...that makes me laugh! These are all pictures from today...

me on a cool rock that was 2 different colors!

Me at one of the waterfalls!

Me sitting on ferns! 

  

Danielle and me on her trekking poles.

 

This is me in a tree.

  I hiked a Mays Peak loop last Wednesday with some friends! It was an adventure!  The Mays Peak loop has old railway tunnels we got to walk through and it was so cool to see the tunnel made in rock or rather from removing rock. 

The old railway tunnel 

Looking for a snack.

a friend offered me salmon. 

   










After our hike at Mays Peak, some of us went to lunch, but the restaurant didn't have aphids on the menu.  I tried to find something else I could eat... but I had to wait until we got home. I certainly don't eat cooked fish!  I'm a beetle!

  Another fun thing I got to do this week was to go to Bass Pro Shops!  I like to go to "Outdoor" stores because I always learn new things about what you can use to have fun outside.  I like to go to REI and Costco and I make friends everywhere I go.  Everyone seems to like that I want kids to go outside and play.  At Bass Pro Shop I tried on a hat (it didn't fit,) looked at the fish in the big aquarium and sat on a real bears nose!  He was not alive anymore, but it was an adventure! 

Me on a bears nose!

Can you see me?

Me in a pretty hat.

Me in a Yucca plant.

 Here are some pictures of me last Monday at St. Mary's Falls.  Sometimes I like to do the hikes again and again because I notice different things each time that I go.  I saw interesting rocks like granite and quartz and sandstone! I sat in this cool Yucca plant.  Did you know that the Ute Native Americans used almost every part of the yucca plant?  They didn't waste any of it!  

Me on St. Mary's Falls. 

Yellow flowers are my favorite.

 Yellow flowers are my favorite.  Boys can like flowers too if they want and I love flowers because that's where my food hangs out!  I especially love yellow flowers!  

I hope you like all my pictures!  Don't forget to leave me a comment and say hello!  I'll try and post again soon... I'm going hiking again tomorrow! 

Hiking: Shorter Dome Rock Loop & Catamount trail this week.

This week I had so much fun hiking with 2 hiking groups.  I hiked the shorter loop of Dome Rock in Divide, Colorado on Wednesday and on Friday I hiked the Catamount Trail in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado! Both hikes were fun but The Garden of Eden Area just over the ridge off the Catamount Trail is my favorite. Danielle said there were more flowers there in July, but it was a lot warmer then too.  She took lots of pictures of me.

She was trying to keep up with her friends because it's safer to stay together, but she took 2 good pictures of me up near Dome Rock.  I like to sit in the sun and hide in cool places. It was an exciting hike and we even had to cross a stream that had turned into a small rushing river from the storm the night before.  We hiked up quite a ways and crossed using a fallen log as a bridge.  The log wasn't very thick and I had to really hold on so that I didn't fall into the river and get washed away!  We didn't get a picture of that... maybe next time.  Danielle took a picture of me as I hid under a tree that was standing on it's tippie toes!  Have you ever seen a tree stand on it's tip-toes before? I had not and I thought it was pretty funny.  It was like a "tree that wanted to be a ballerina!"

Me on "Steve's Bridge"

Me on Michael's backpack

Danielle took quite a few more photos of me at the Catamount trail.  It's a very steep trail with lots of rocks you have to step up on which works your leg muscles a lot.  Danielle's husband let me ride on his backpack for a little while in the Garden of Eden area.  It's very pretty there, there are big rocks, and the trail is a nice dirt path.  There's tall grass and a little stream with fish called Brook Trout in it. I noticed there was a  lot of grasshoppers and Danielle wanted to set me in the grass to see if I could get a picture with one, but I didn't want to.  Danielle said I was being a party pooper, but I didn't want to, so I didn't. There was a bridge called "Steve's Bridge" so she stopped and took a picture of me on the bridge.  It's a pretty good bridge. There were also a lot of trees that had died and were decaying.  When a tree dies sometimes other bugs come and eat the tree.  I do not eat trees, I eat aphids, but I agreed to take a picture on the tree.

  I also took a picture with this pretty flower.  It was all by itself and I decided to be friends with it.  I think that it is a good picture of me.

Me on the very big mushroom!

  Then I sat on a really big mushroom! I couldn't believe how big it was.  There are all kinds of different mushrooms in the Rocky Mountains and they are all different colors.  You should NEVER eat a mushroom that doesn't come from the grocery store because some of them are poisonous and can make you very sick and you could even die if you ate the wrong ones!

 There is a very pretty little stream, or brook and I wanted to take a pretty picture sitting on a log in front of the water.  There is a lot of moss around there because of all the water.  I really like that area and think it would be perfect for a Lady bug picnic! Ladybug picnics are the best!

Me hiding in a stump

This was a selfie with me and my friend Danielle.  She has a hat that says, "Dandie" because she loves dandelions so much and so she picked that as her trail name.  Hikers can pick a fun trail name that is like a nick name, but if you aren't careful someone will change your trail name based on something silly, or funny that you do on a hike.  Danielle likes the trail name "dandie" because she says it's close to her real nick name "Dani" and she says she is "just dandie, and she's not liein'!" I have no idea where my hikes or adventures will take me this coming week.  I'm always excited to see what we will do next.  I hope you will keep visiting me here so that I can share all the fun stuff I get to do with you. Please comment below and just say "hello!" 

Introduction: I am Toodles, the giant ladybug.

Hello!  I am Toodles the ladybug!  I'm not really a lady, I'm a boy.  I just met my human friend recently and she has been taking me on all sorts of adventures!  Her name is Danielle and she loves to go outside and do different things and she takes me with her! She loves to hike and go out on lakes in a kayak!  I get to learn all sorts of things about nature and science and I get to climb trees and meet animals!  I have a wonderful life and I wanted to start a blog so that I can share my adventures with you!  This past weekend I went out on a really big lake called a reservoir.  It has a dam and holds water that goes to peoples homes.  Danielle took me out in her kayak and we saw a birds nest built in the rocks, a really cool spider web with a spider living in it, some cool birds and flowers and nature.  Danielle said I could ride on the top of her hat.  She talked to me and I was so surprised to see how big the rocks were! We were camping in the mountains for her birthday and it was so much fun.

I'm going to try to write once a week about all of the things I have done during the week.  Feel free to comment, but remember: If you don't have something nice to say, it's better to say nothing at all.  I want this to be a nice blog as ladybugs are harmless to humans so I want all those here to be harmless to each other.  A little more about my kind:  there are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs in the world.  We are small beetles and people in other countries often call us ladybird beetles.  We eat aphids and other plant eating pests so we are good for gardens and farms.  You can read more about ladybugs at kids.nationalgeographic.com .

I like to ride on the dashboard and sometimes I ride on the visor, or even in the cup holder. It's always good to have someone to talk to. My friend Danielle is an excellent talker, and I am an excellent listener.  When she takes her truck on bumpy dirt roads and I am riding on the dash I jump and bounce all over the place.  These are some pictures of me riding in the truck and on Danielle's hat while kayaking this weekend on the reservoir.  I hope you like the pictures of me.  Leave me a note in the comments if you want to and I will try to write again soon! Have a great day and be kind!                                                                          

 Love, Toodles