Marin Tender Tracks Tues. Oct. 28, 2014 Day 15

Waxing Moon 3rd quarter
Lower Lake Lagunitas/Bon Tempe Lake?

WOW what a most glorious and pivotal day.  The biggest piece is that very soon after the day got settled in at our place and after some of them did a little pounding in the mortar and pestle of Oyster shells to make white paint and pounding of acorns most went with Linsey to the mud area from last time we were here.  Finally all went over and there they had THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES slopping around in the mud.
•Theron was truly PIG of the MUD!!! and was literally rolling and crawling in it in his big coat. He took his shoes, which I rinsed off in the water due to their unrecognizable state,  but the rest of him was in deed a Pig in Mud Heaven!
•Jai was like last time, he went right in, got his one shoe stuck and was mad at the mud saying it was the worst day ever and he was going to tell his Mother yet he kept going back and back and back into the “Mud Monsters” and yelling at them each time. 🙂
•Nico was delighted to be in and playing with the mud up to his knees and more
•Everett was right there in the mud with joy and FULL delight
• Julian actually played in the less muddy mud, got his socks wet and took them off then put his shoes back on and continued to play with the mud yet did not get too dirty like the others but none the less, was having a GRAND time of it!!!
•Velia, well I thought she was pretty funny. She went right into the heart of the deepest mud, got her legs spread quite far apart as to not be able to get them back together, her one shoe was coming off and she was upset.  I helped her once and then she got herself stuck again. The first time I fell into it to help!! 🙂  She said she didn’t want her shoes and socks to get dirty and wanted to take them off.  I helped her figure out how to get them off, with a little help, and then play in the mud. She did and then became an official Mud Pig too!!
• Ariel had a similar experience.  She got so upset at first with her clothes being dirty and muddy with no change available.  I loved her and stayed with her. She then let go of it and ran into the middle of the deep mud pile and she too became an official Mud Pig!!
•Thea was in HEAVEN!! like her brother and Theron rolling and playing in this mud. Shoes off in waist deep with glee in it all.
• Hana was more in the mud then last time and feeling very good that she got her boots muddy but getting really in it was for sure  not her interest so she watched the others and played on the edges.
I laughed so hard in delight watching them and then Linsey joined them all. She rolled up her pants, took off her shoes and joined in the squishey gooshy fun!!!
Finally tummies began to speak so we made our way all the back to our original spot where most of the back packs were left and there they sat down, all together and quietly, truly quietly began to eat. Then Velia said “It’s sooo quiet!!”  Linsey and I thought this was actually fabulous!  Their voices began to wake up yet actually they began to track the movements of the fisherman across the way.  Jai and Ariel were laying down and enjoying resting on the shore.  The others were fairly quiet either eating or beginning to roam about after eating some.
After a while, Julian, Theron and Jai went back to the rocks they liked playing on last time we were here. They became boats and pirate ships.  The other children found there way over there too but then there was an upset between Theron and Jai and Julian, who was sitting quietly behind Theron and in support of Therons desire just to play with Julian. Jai felt pushed out and that HIS rock was taken, Theron wanted the rock for himself and Julian liked sitting on it.   Today the troubles resolved with such ease and peace.  I helped them and let them know that I would help them until they were able to do it themselves so, we went back to the decision that was made last Thursday when this same squabble occured. All was happy.  Julian and Theron got 5 minutes on it and then it would be Jai’s turn.  During this time I began to tell Jai a story and he LOVED IT!! And wanted more. As I told the story, Theron and Julian slid of f the rock to come closer for the story. Then I told another one and almost everyone was there listening.
The group dispersed and Hana, Velia, Thea, Nico and Ariel were with Linsey sweetly and happily taking turns pounding the oyster shells in the mortar and pestle.
There were a few bathroom runs and getting bags to put all the MUDDY clothes in, washing off in the lake, playing on the rocks, watching the fisherman all the way around the corner, listening for metal monsters in order to cross the concrete river safely and then turning into rocks in the bus while others went to the bathroom when we were leaving in order to SURPIRSE them.
Today felt like a very pivotal day with more group unity, ability to resolve conflicts, more playing in harmony with each other and a great deal more true connecting and in relationship in joy with the natural world.  Also they are beginning to catch on to the putting their lunches away before they play and putting socks in shoes and shoes in one place instead of throwing them willy nilly when they take them off.
YEAH!!!!!