Marin Tender Tracks Tues. Nov. 11, 2014 Day 19

Waning  Moon
Part of Lake Lagunitas

•Velia is gone this week and Theron and Hana are back.  It was good to see them and they entered with ease.
•Hana was a bit subdued though and by about 1 was showing signs of fatigue, though nothing strong and troublesome, just tired.  I kept calculating what time it was for her and wondering how her body was feeling considering that it got very cold and windy at times on this day!
•Julian started the day by being pushed, “by accident” by Theron and was very, very upset. It took him a while to come in so we sang our gentlest songs with the hopes that it might be a bit welcoming for him.  As he was about to go in his Dad’s car to find us later he changed his mind and came into the bus with a smile.  He even sat, by choice, next to Theron.  Theron wanted him to play with his big stuffed animal and he did not want to. He still chose to sit next to him and Theron was content. Jai, who was on the other side of Theron, was fine with having the big stuffed animal bump into him so, all was well.  As it happened, Julian was either bumped or pushed down by either Theron or Jai two more times this day and fell all on his own one more time!!!  He managed his way through it all with valor and at days end was still talking and playing with both of them.
•Theron, when he was struggling with others went off, as he has done all year, to eat and sit by himself  yet with us near by. He then would come back in and play with ease.
•Jai was happy to play with all and when he got to be “baby” with the girls he was delighted!  He did however get triggered, as he does, when he thinnks someone is being mean to him.  That is when he pushed Julian.  Julian and Theron did not want to share their string that he had spent some time figuring out how to share it with them earlier.  It had  been  dragged out of the creek  and much work on sharing took place.  Other then that all was very, very well and interactive one with the other.

•Nico still predominantly plays with Thea and prefers that but, by the end of the day the girls were all together and he spent a little time with all the boys and Linsey. Otherwise, he was playing alongside Thea inside and all around Leaves, climbing trees and the like. But oh yes, today the chidlren got “Jobs” and his was Weather Watcher. That means he needed to find a certain kind of stick and a feather. He spent a lot of time looking for that and along the way found many, many, many little feathers. He and I went searching for where they might have come from and asking ourselves many questions about  them.
•Enzo was very happy playing with Jai, the girls and THE CREEK!
•Hana was happy to play family with all the girls, Jai and Enzo and change her clothes often.  She was not content putting warm clothes on though!
•Ariel was happy playing with Hana and glad she was back.  They both joined ALL the boys when they were all buried inside fallen leaves as they were pretending that they were birds in a big nest.
•Thea was doing all the same things as the girls as well as going down the creek with her brother and others searching for treasures with Linsey.

This day was filled with the most beautiful flow of a preschooler. The learning took place in the best of all possible ways, organically and woven into each moment.  I will give you a list of some of the things that took place:
• Climbing an amazing tree where they became monkeys, birds, firemen, and magickal beings
• Finding  two logs in the creek with a big long string attached to them  They then dragged it out of the water together.
• Getting buried in fallen leaves, jumping in the leaves, piling the leaves up , then becoming Eagles, cardinals, Hawks and other birds inside a nest. One by one they came in and asked to be kept warm by the leaves that we piled higher and higher. Pretty soon all were in there and then they grew up, sprouted their grown up wings and FLEW all around catching their fish from the water!
• Playing house and having babies and bringing their children to babysitters and play dates.
• Gathering Madrone berries and Toyon Berries on an adventure hike that led us to another part of the lake
• Throwing rocks in the lake and saying  “Hachoo” each time the rock went in the water
• Playing , can you find me? right before we left
• Discovering MANY little bird feathers and wondering how they got there and looking for clues
• Getting “Jobs” at Tender Tracks by picking out of a bag and some being happy with their job and others very sad about the one that they got.
• Finding a stick for the Weather Watcher
• Seeing what is in the “Guardian of Safety” first aid kit bags.
And, so much more.
It was a blustery, full and very fun day surrounded by the INCREDIBLE beauty of this place. We could go here every day and find something new and wonderful I know.