Marin Tender Tracks Thurs. Jan. 28, 2016 Day 34

Waning Moon
Bon Tempe Lake

Velia was home sick today and Io will be back next week.
First thing we did, in the bus, was send out not only love and well wishes to Velia and Io but to all our other friends and family that might be sick or that would need love and well wishes.  They thought of Xander and added him to our well wishes until we finally just included all the people we know and don’t know.  It was so beautiful and warming to the heart.
And then, what an incredible, incredible day it was!  We all had such fun being at this new and very fun place.  The Lake was so very, very full, the sky started out  blue with gentle clouds yet those clouds got darker and darker and  seemed to just be sneaking in.  Layton was the Weather Watcher and she said that she didn’t think it was going to rain but we surely should wear our warm clothes and have our rain clothes.  Well, she was right, and, it turned out we did need to use our Rain Gear.
When we first got there all the children ran up to the big rock there and explored it discovering it’s many gifts and nuances as they ran all over it. There was however lot’s of Poison Oak so we needed to be on the look out for that.
Before circle it seemed great to play a bunch of games so we began with Duck duck goose and little by little the entire group came in.  Michelle then brought them into some really fun movement games where they were like so many different animal and elements.  Duck Duck goose turned into the Goose had to go and find her goslings. The Goose would close her/his eyes while the Goslings scurried away. When the Goose opened their eyes away they ran to gather the little ones back home.  We also played a game where they were Penguins and had to find each other by sound.  When we finally came to sit down they were a bit more ready and off we went with a new story that flowed from one told on Tuesday. The underlying theme was about learning to respect and enjoy others even when they seem so very, very different.
A bit after circle we wanted to go explore this little Island type place that we could see from our shore.  We began the journey over there but discovered that there was way too much Poison Oak to trudge to it so, we took the high road and wound up on the large dam top where we could see both sides of the lake and far beyond. We ran and explored until we came to a choice point.
We chose to go down to the right following a Deer trail while I helped Ariel go poop on top.    Down, down,down we eventually all went until we found a beautiful area right on the shore of the lake with incredible rock outcroppings behind us and trees all around too.
There they found so many wonders that we made a little gathering spot  to put it all.  Talay was delighted with the crawdad claw that she found.  Layton LOVED finding these wonderful rocks.   Alara found moss that she became enthralled with and gathered much to put on our little mat for these treasures.  Rhett and Aaron were having fun with tossing logs in the water and making “boats.”   They were all so excited and having such grand explorations together and apart.  The sky kept getting darker and darker though the air was not extremely cold.  And then, it happened, when we were looking the other way, HEAD DUNKING IN THE LAKE!!!  Ariel,  Talay, Layton and Alara were in the water and laughing with delight as they got their hair and yes, eventually their bodies quite wet and then, do you know what happened? Do you know what they noticed about their bodies?  They were  COLD!!!!  Well, we work gently and consistently with aiding them in postponing these types of adventures until it is closer to the end of the day but alas, the joy of being 4 and 5 and being completely in the present moment is their gift and blessing and then, the “natural consequences of it all!!!!:)
We ate lunch, the rain began to gently come down, we packed up, went back to the bus to change the ones that were really wet.  Rhett,after getting him dry and 5 minutes before we left got wet yet again and was delivered home as such.  ( I am smiling and laughing here with arms up in the air.  🙂
The bottom line, they had so much fun!!!
They made it through their coldness by walking back, getting changed and getting warmed up.  I read them a beautiful story about how the Rainbow came to be which was about how Red, Blue and Yellow brought color to the world and how they mixed and matched to make the many other colors and then the rainbow’s color smile.
A beautiful, beautiful day.