small kiddo energy making me smile
I've been intending to blog since Monday bc there is oh so much news! This week I have new campers and I am loving it, very much reinforcing that I have a preferred age group. I tumble around with 6 small girls and 3 small boys and my purple stuffed turtle named Pebble Plum (plum is her nature name) and we are having a blast! It may take us an hour to do a hike that my last group did in 10 minutes, but I don't think that's a bad thing and we are actively learning about drought tolerant plants and singing our team chant along the way! We howl at the coyote brush and make monkey sounds at the sticky monkey flower plant. So much to share! I'll focus on highlights
Perhaps what tickles me most is that these gals are on my level for the hydrate and pee game! Many of my campers go pee about 5 times in the camp day, sometimes within the same 20 min span. It takes us about 15 minutes to get started each morning bc we all stand in line to wait for the port-a-potty. Later in the day, we just fully embrace nature peeing! They are so comfortable with it. Day 1 at the beach I was informed: "thats the changing room (bc someone had to change their pants from a pee accident) and now youre walking into the bathroom" it really cracks me up how open and often our bodily needs present themselves. although i have actually not been drinking much bc i don't want to go pee and leave them alone, and bc I don't take my mask off much since they are not great about social distancing
we are water theme this week, which brought up some frozen vibes. they were very excited to tell me that water has memory. we also played a game of "water you doing" which was a water themed version of the improv game what are you doing. we are also having daily themes of things we want to practice, we have talked about respect, teamwork, and patience thus far....more to come :)
goat tales
during observation: "is that a horse?"
drawing goat portraits while milking: "i started drawing a goat but now its a reindeer" "i drew a cross between a goat and a unicorn, its a goatcorn"
upon learning that the goats had escaped this morning, some hypotheses for how this happened: they used a shrinkanator, they flew, the quails helped them fly out
their opinion of me
age guesses: 36, 33, 20
"i think i'm almost as tall as you, im 4' 2".
we've been keeping things mystical. i've told them that there are lots of secrets at slide ranch, and so we're trying to learn all of them. pebble plum knows all of them, so she might share with us. on monday we learned why its called slide ranch, on tuesday we learned where all the water is hiding at slide ranch. today we learned some plant friends.
we are very excited about frump the slide ranch fairy. we saw their tent and so we left them a note, and they replied to us! we really really want to see frump, and are hoping that this can happen somehow (yikes i may have dug myself too deep a hole on this one but i think i can enlist some other staff to help make this plan happen!)
we like to play freeze dance
today we learned what the word "access" means after talking about the access that we have to nature. we also learned what drought means and what tolerant means. this is a good exercise in realizing that i have a vocabulary that isnt always 5 yr old friendly, and in thinking about how to talk differently! feels good for educator growth
moving places really takes us a long time. (good thing im trained from all those getting ready to ski moments up at tahoe LOL). we have to get our backpacks. and our lunchboxes. and our masks. but then we have to go pee, so we take all that stuff off. and then we get it all again. and then we need to zip our jackets if we're cold. and then we didnt actually put our backpacks on our back, so we are kind of shuffling along slowly dragging it. so we need to put our backpacks on properly. but our backpacks are heavy, so we dont want to walk very slow. and then the trail is steep! so we fall on our butts. at this point i say "its ok if we fall! you can just slide down on your butt if you want because we are at slide ranch after all! you're strong and we're almost there!" and then we proceed to tumble down the hill all sliding and falling on one another but seemingly having a good time and somehow making it to the bottom with all our belongings + a lot of newfound dirt on our clothes! oh, the joys of hiking with little ones. our other technique is to scream our chant as loud as we can. its a collaborative chant that we each contributed one line to using our nature name (or not, in a few cases"
in our world, turnips twirl!
in our world, horses run!
in our world, goats eat!
in our world, mangos sing!
in our world, strawberries sleep!
in our world, otters explode!
in our world, cars!
in our world, trucks crash!
in our world, quails jump!
in our world, dolphins cannonball!
in our world, violet turtles fly!
<our group name is the flying violet turtles>
so this is all fun and games, but my best camper moment was today during our honorable harvest. we were going to gather some coyote brush so we can make natural dye, and so we were going to interact with nature in a way that involves taking life. here is what the guidelines are (i adapted to make a little more clear for kid friendly language)
they listened so well during this (theyre generally v good at listening, its amazing) and then we went to harvest and everyone actually asked their plant and gave it compliments and only took a little bit and then said thank you and then this is what warmed my heart is THEY HUGGED THE COYOTE BRUSH and this is why i love children and believe there is good in the world.
on the non-kiddo front, lots of fun food situations! the molasses mission continues with molasses granola bark and lemon molasses muffins, as well as molasses cookies from another teacher
we are RICH in stone fruit and have produced 2 plum tortes, 1 plum cobbler (this was my creation, cornmeal coconut topping with lavender, got good reviews yay), and 1 giant peach-nectarine crumble
Monday was our cook night and my partner made AMAZING red enchiladas with a bomb-sauce made from guajillo chiles, also tomatillo salsa and black beans. i was veggie master and did a big batch of chard and a corn-tomato-avocado salad with lime dressing. our one down-side was rice, which i take responsibility for...it was mushy again! our goal for future times is to not mess up our rice, and to have dinner ready earlier....we started at 330 and didnt serve til 745, then finished clean up after 10. i love spending 7 hours in the kitchen but also...we probably should work on efficiency.
overall, life is pretty good. its been misty and foggy and a little dark in the morning, but ive been having lots of fun FLYING in the downhill of my runs and trying to go fast, which is exhilarating and enjoyable. i also try to keep playing my flute when i can and people are always super nice and complimentary about it, which is so sweet!
Perhaps what tickles me most is that these gals are on my level for the hydrate and pee game! Many of my campers go pee about 5 times in the camp day, sometimes within the same 20 min span. It takes us about 15 minutes to get started each morning bc we all stand in line to wait for the port-a-potty. Later in the day, we just fully embrace nature peeing! They are so comfortable with it. Day 1 at the beach I was informed: "thats the changing room (bc someone had to change their pants from a pee accident) and now youre walking into the bathroom" it really cracks me up how open and often our bodily needs present themselves. although i have actually not been drinking much bc i don't want to go pee and leave them alone, and bc I don't take my mask off much since they are not great about social distancing
we are water theme this week, which brought up some frozen vibes. they were very excited to tell me that water has memory. we also played a game of "water you doing" which was a water themed version of the improv game what are you doing. we are also having daily themes of things we want to practice, we have talked about respect, teamwork, and patience thus far....more to come :)
goat tales
during observation: "is that a horse?"
drawing goat portraits while milking: "i started drawing a goat but now its a reindeer" "i drew a cross between a goat and a unicorn, its a goatcorn"
upon learning that the goats had escaped this morning, some hypotheses for how this happened: they used a shrinkanator, they flew, the quails helped them fly out
their opinion of me
age guesses: 36, 33, 20
"i think i'm almost as tall as you, im 4' 2".
we've been keeping things mystical. i've told them that there are lots of secrets at slide ranch, and so we're trying to learn all of them. pebble plum knows all of them, so she might share with us. on monday we learned why its called slide ranch, on tuesday we learned where all the water is hiding at slide ranch. today we learned some plant friends.
we are very excited about frump the slide ranch fairy. we saw their tent and so we left them a note, and they replied to us! we really really want to see frump, and are hoping that this can happen somehow (yikes i may have dug myself too deep a hole on this one but i think i can enlist some other staff to help make this plan happen!)
we like to play freeze dance
today we learned what the word "access" means after talking about the access that we have to nature. we also learned what drought means and what tolerant means. this is a good exercise in realizing that i have a vocabulary that isnt always 5 yr old friendly, and in thinking about how to talk differently! feels good for educator growth
moving places really takes us a long time. (good thing im trained from all those getting ready to ski moments up at tahoe LOL). we have to get our backpacks. and our lunchboxes. and our masks. but then we have to go pee, so we take all that stuff off. and then we get it all again. and then we need to zip our jackets if we're cold. and then we didnt actually put our backpacks on our back, so we are kind of shuffling along slowly dragging it. so we need to put our backpacks on properly. but our backpacks are heavy, so we dont want to walk very slow. and then the trail is steep! so we fall on our butts. at this point i say "its ok if we fall! you can just slide down on your butt if you want because we are at slide ranch after all! you're strong and we're almost there!" and then we proceed to tumble down the hill all sliding and falling on one another but seemingly having a good time and somehow making it to the bottom with all our belongings + a lot of newfound dirt on our clothes! oh, the joys of hiking with little ones. our other technique is to scream our chant as loud as we can. its a collaborative chant that we each contributed one line to using our nature name (or not, in a few cases"
in our world, turnips twirl!
in our world, horses run!
in our world, goats eat!
in our world, mangos sing!
in our world, strawberries sleep!
in our world, otters explode!
in our world, cars!
in our world, trucks crash!
in our world, quails jump!
in our world, dolphins cannonball!
in our world, violet turtles fly!
<our group name is the flying violet turtles>
so this is all fun and games, but my best camper moment was today during our honorable harvest. we were going to gather some coyote brush so we can make natural dye, and so we were going to interact with nature in a way that involves taking life. here is what the guidelines are (i adapted to make a little more clear for kid friendly language)
Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Take only what you need.
Take only which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.
Share.
Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.
they listened so well during this (theyre generally v good at listening, its amazing) and then we went to harvest and everyone actually asked their plant and gave it compliments and only took a little bit and then said thank you and then this is what warmed my heart is THEY HUGGED THE COYOTE BRUSH and this is why i love children and believe there is good in the world.
on the non-kiddo front, lots of fun food situations! the molasses mission continues with molasses granola bark and lemon molasses muffins, as well as molasses cookies from another teacher
we are RICH in stone fruit and have produced 2 plum tortes, 1 plum cobbler (this was my creation, cornmeal coconut topping with lavender, got good reviews yay), and 1 giant peach-nectarine crumble
Monday was our cook night and my partner made AMAZING red enchiladas with a bomb-sauce made from guajillo chiles, also tomatillo salsa and black beans. i was veggie master and did a big batch of chard and a corn-tomato-avocado salad with lime dressing. our one down-side was rice, which i take responsibility for...it was mushy again! our goal for future times is to not mess up our rice, and to have dinner ready earlier....we started at 330 and didnt serve til 745, then finished clean up after 10. i love spending 7 hours in the kitchen but also...we probably should work on efficiency.
overall, life is pretty good. its been misty and foggy and a little dark in the morning, but ive been having lots of fun FLYING in the downhill of my runs and trying to go fast, which is exhilarating and enjoyable. i also try to keep playing my flute when i can and people are always super nice and complimentary about it, which is so sweet!
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