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A Place in the Leaves

IMG_1445This beautiful photo was taken by Amelie, one of the hikers in the group!

On our hike to today we had a contest to see who could collect the most nuts.  I called them my nutty bunch!  They have a great deal of energy and it is always a challenge to get them to notice the things around them.  I love that they get to run, but exploring can be part of the adventure too!   After our hike the kids returned to the barn with their stash of nuts to see who was the winner.  Of course we all knew that Matt would be the winner because his pockets were practically hanging down to his knees.  But then something happened…. some of the kids decided to add to Matt’s pile….  so I think then they all decided they were  winners!!  Matt was okay with that and which made me sigh with relief!

Wiggly worm find!

Wiggly worm find!

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Love my nutty bunch…. it was a fun day!!!  xoxox

AVALON EXPLORERS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH NATURE!!!

Week one of camp is complete.  Although we were in the midst of one of summer’s famous heat-waves we made the very best of our adventures.  All of our Kindergarten through Grade three campers came to camp ready to hike and explore.  Image

And explore we did!  First two days were spent collecting bugs.  I was so impressed with all of the campers…. I did not hear one eeeewwww or scream as we found and captured milkweed bugs, caterpillars, long horned beetles, worms, honey bees, and more!!

We spent our first day out in the wildflower fields and the second in the woods.  Marguerite, of the instructors helped the campers understand that bugs are both good and bad.  We had some interesting conversations with these young minds.  

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Hornets nest (abandoned of course!!)

The next two days we spent at the pond.  I loved how all of the campers were so engaged in pond dipping and skimming with nets.  We were lucky enough to have three teenage helpers, Wendy, Julia and Luke, each of whom helped the campers dig deep into the pond and see all the creatures up close that they may have only seen in books.  Frogs, pond skaters, dragon flies, dragon fly nymph, tapeless, turtles, duckweed and more!  I was proud of how adventurous they all were!!!

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Duckweed.  Floating roots.  Penelope said they looked like mini lily pads.

ImageResident Bull Frog!

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ImageWhat else is in there??  Ah my little limnologists!

My hope is that each of the campers will return to Avalon with their families and talk about what they saw and also discover that there is still more to be found.  

I was so proud of all of them!

Keep exploring 

Miss Sue

 

“THIS IS THE LIFE!”

“This is the life!” Max yelled as he ran down the trail with the other kids….   I can only smile and feel my heart warm to hear a child experience the joy of being in the great

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outdoors.   It was a simply beautiful day for our first class of Natural Patterns.  An opportunity for K-3rd graders to discover patterns that are always around us.  On this day we talked about trees and the patterns they make against the sky.  There is a wonderful book Sky Tree by Thomas Locker, which shows the same tree throughout the year and the surrounding sky.  The illustrations are so peaceful and done with such loving care.

 Our hike was full of laughter and running and stopping to spin below the trees, which frankly made me dizzy as ever!!!  The kids seemed to have no problem .

It is always so thrilling to see how excited the kids get before our hike.  You would think I was offering them candy!  Nope, no candy just time to be free and learn about respecting our time with Mother Nature.  Yes it is  “the life”.Image

One final word… Juliana said to me, “sometimes when I get up in the morning and I look out the window I see the sky looks pink and purple.”  Way to go Juliana!!!  Keep those eyes open.

When was the last time you saw a beautiful purple morning sky?  I saw one today and thought of Juliana.

Here are some pictures of their inspired tree art!  Until next week…… happy trails!

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