Outdoor Hour challenge #38 - Ash?

Over the past few weeks we have, or at least I know I have, really been looking at all the different trees we have in our neighborhood. We have learned a few of their names but there are so many still to learn about and really look at so we can identify them. This weeks Outdoor Hour Challenge was to find an Elm, a Hickory or a Chestnut tree to study. I looked up each one and I really don't think any of those are in our neck of the woods. I may be wrong there are so many different trees around and I certainly don't know them all. Since we couldn't study one of the assigned trees I thought we would just pick one to look up and identify. This is the tree I picked.
It is a beautiful tall tree standing in the yard one of the many houses that are for sale on our block. But each time I pass it I am surprised. It looks so big, beautiful and green but when you get up close to it you notice that there are all sorts of fruits, my kids and I call them seeds, clustered in the leaves.
The leaves grow in leaflets with usually 7 leaves on each. But the fruits are what my kids are interested in. Like the Box Elder we identified a few weeks ago, when ever we pass by this tree we have to gather up a handful of the seeds and throw them into the air to watch them spin. It is especially fun on a windy day and we have contests to see who can throw their seeds into the air and go the farthest.

Here is the bark of the tree. I had to get a photo of the bark. It struck me as beautiful. Maybe it was the late afternoon light and shadows dancing around on the gray pattern. I just thought it was worth taking time to look at it.
After visiting my field guide a few times I still can't tell you which kind of Ash it is because only one kind is supposed to grow in our area but the leaves don't match. So I am happy just saying it is an Ash tree and going with that. I know there are other ash trees growing in our neighborhood. We have seen the same fruits and leaflets on other trees but the leaves are smaller than this big trees leaves so they are probably different varieties of Ash.

Here is Sophie modeling the leaves and fruits off of the other ash tree we found.
My kids don't care what kind of Ash tree it is. They just want to play with whirling seeds.

Here is Henry gathering up another handful.

It has been a fun few weeks with our focus on Trees. We have added a number of new trees to our list. Now as we walk through our neighborhood my kids can name quite a few of them. There are still many more to go so we keep looking and trying to find identifying features of the trees. My kids this week have really enjoyed the colors of the leaves. The reds and yellows have slowly been coming out for over a month but this week in particular has really made the colors pop. Whole trees are yellow or "on fire" with red. Before it was just patches here or there.

We certainly enjoy our daily walks.