Palo Alto Tender Tracks Thurs. March 20, 2014 Day !50!

Waning Moon
Huddart Park: Official First Day of Spring

All were here accept Juliette.  She is still basking in Mexico’s warmth!
We however, though in warmth, were found in places that were cooler then expected while we were under the Redwood trees.   Almost all were up for a brand new adventure, particularly Julian.  I figured since it was the first day of Spring, we would bring about a first and new exploration.  They all joined into the fun of it and off we went to this new part of Huddart Park, the upper picnic areas above the sand volley ball court.
We got out, explored/oriented to the place and then settled into circle time.  I gave them a story called One Fine Day which can be found in the library.  It is a sequential story about a Fox that drank an old woman’s milk without asking. She took his tail until he could bring her back her milk.  He had to go to the Cow, the grass, the creek, the maiden, the merchant, the chicken and then the Farmer. Each one wanted something in return for what the Fox was asking for until he got to the Farmer who gave him a seed for the chicken, just because.  Each time the first part was repeated and along the way they were able to let me know what was needed next in the story.  We then went on our own journey to find our way to a new place and then find our way back.
Cole and Zara were map makers so they got to choose today which direction we should take and off we went down a path.  Not long after starting our trek they found a great log to hide in. Oh how they thought that was fun to just be little animals hiding in the log and pretending it was raining.  The log’s hollow did not go all the way through so they checked out different parts of it.  We also spent time feeling the “Refrigerator trees/ Madrones”. They discovered that the parts of the tree with the bark on it was warm from the Sun and the parts that were red and smooth  quite cold.  Then, off down the trail we went until, we found a little off shoot trail.   Wow, what a trail this turned out to be, like a SLIPPEY SLIDDEY, at least the last half.  All the children did great coming down this big, steep hill.  Finn had a HUGE, very long tree branch that he, with the finest of skills, managed to get it down this big hill without a nick or a scratch to ANYONE!  WOW, he has got it down.  The other children loved this stick as well so they all were very creative with how to play with it, how to navigate it down the trail and Finn was very gracious and willing to share with everyone.  In the end, after he played with it some more, it finally was abandoned.
When we got to the bottom of a main trail, I, Julian, Serena, Zara and Eden  ran ahead.  We found a great spot near the creek with some water and an open place to settle in.   However, when the other children came down they found another spot and started playing there with Jill.   Eden was balancing on the logs where we were and, even though she really tried so hard to keep her brand new beautiful purple shoes clean she slipped into the water. Tears, comforting, resting into and finding resolution came after a time.  Then there was the changing of clothes.
Afterwards She, Serena, Zara, Finn and I all sat down to eat lunch.  After lunch I began pulling things out of my backpack to find ?, something, and while doing so I came upon my flint and steel.  I then began to gather materials to see if we could, in a slightly moist forest, make a little fire.  We pretended that we were lost in the forest and needed to stay warm because it was getting cold.   We made a safe fire circle with the rocks near us and looked for very dry leaves and such.  I took the flint and steel out to see if we could, in our pretend yet slightly  real world game, make a spark of fire, So,  I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried to get the sparks to make a little flame but they didn’t lite the dried leaves!  The children continued to search for dry materials but NOTHING worked.  All of a sudden we heard a very big cry in the direction of Jill and the rest of the group.  We ran over to see what was going on.  Sitting in the loving arms of Jill, we discovered that Julian got poked by a stick and from there we all worked together to help him.  Cole and Zac ran to get my larger first aid kit. When they couldn’t find it they just dragged my whole pack over!  From there I tended to him and, for safety and precaution, put a patch over his eye. Well, what do you think they thought he looked like?  Yes, a Pirate.  He rested for a bit yet was raring to go play with the others by the bridge.  We watched him closely and he seemed to be fine.  Not long after that we had to pack up and find our way home. But, which way?  We couldn’t go back the way we came. Coming down that slippey sliddey was one thing but climbing back up?  Just not enough time.  Serena was the one who figured out which way we could go. But alas, I did not tell you about Zara?  When we were walking down the trail we came across a Redwood tree that had been burned.  It is always fun to take the burned part and use it to paint our faces with so that is what we all did. I scraped the black burnt part off and all the children gathered around to get some to put on their faces.  However, Zara it seemed got some dust in her eyes.  This was not noticed until we were half way through lunch.  After much encouragement to cry in order to wash the unseen specks  out I finally poured some of my water in her eye and, ALL BETTER!  She felt fine after that.  This was quite the eye day.
They made it up the hill in record time, in the bus and, much to my surprise, we made it back on time, basically.