Wilderness Kids

On Friday, the older kids had their final exam for Nature Kids Connect, our nature group. Rea and Sara ended up with a harder exam than most.

The kids ages 8 and up were supposed to walk from one trailhead in Dimple Dell to another. The starting trailhead just happened to be the one we went to for our Forest Kindergarten for several years and the one where Mike likes to forage, so our girls were at an advantage at the beginning. They were supposed to identify about a dozen plants, and all but one of them were ones that we have foraged or pointed out (poison ivy), so they not only knew what they were, but exactly where to find them. They were even able to help some of the other kids.

As they hiked, the kids got more and more strung out, and Rea and Sara were on their own in the part of the park they didn't know when the trail split and they took the wrong turn. They wandered around and realized that they were lost. That was scary, but Rea recognized one of the mountains. It was the one she always faced while doing her sit spot in nature group, and it has a formation that looks like a giant bear clawed it. So she oriented them on that and tried to find trails that led toward it.

At one point, they turned on a trail that looked like it headed in exactly the right direction, and they startled a deer on it! The deer was so surprised that it froze instead of running away, and they stood there waiting for it to leave until they decided to use another path.

It also stormed on them, with pouring rain and distant thunder. The dollar store poncho didn't do much good. They also had to cross the stream at least a dozen times, so they were pretty wet and cold.

They found their way back to the parking lot and then could hear the drum the parents and younger kids were pounding to welcome the older kids back, so they found their way down to us. It was very scary but also very impressive, and we are so proud of what they were able to do! They are real wilderness kids.

Mike started to work on a new game since he is in between semesters right now for his grad school. The new game is an RPG, and it is based on classic children's musical animated movies. He has been working on it for a week or so now, and finally he felt that it was ready to play. Friday we played it for the first time. The game went well. It was pretty fun, and the mechanics worked well also. Mike is very excited to see where this one goes.

On Saturday the new serviceberry bushes arrived. They were replacements for the two ones that died which we ordered earlier this year. The new ones look pretty vigorous, so hopefully they end up growing well.

Later on Saturday we rearranged our bedroom. Alison wanted the la-z-boy chair up in the bedroom because it would allow her to sit in it as she woke up in the morning, and it really wasn't doing anything down where it was. With everything put back on the shelves and cleaned up it looks like a whole new room.

We also swapped out Boo's hammock - because she has been using our travel hammock for her whole life so far. She is very excited about the new hammock. 

Did we ever mention that Baby is now called Boo? We've been trying to change her name away from Baby for months, but she rejected every idea we offered. Then Rea suggested Boo, and she immediately said "Me Boo," so it stuck. Mike always mentions that Boo is Urban American for significant other, while Alison always references Monsters, Inc. Either way, it's what she answers to, and she's finally grown out of the name Baby, so it's all good.

Boo is also speaking in two and three word sentences, which is very fun. She is getting more and more expressive every day. She is also getting very stubborn. Luckily, her pouts are super cute, so her stubbornness is less annoying than it might be.

Sunday we went on a walk with Plastows. We always have a fun time walking with them. The Jordan River Trail is almost as good as Dimple Dell, so it is pretty fun to walk along. We found a cherry tree today as well as some serviceberry bushes. In a few weeks the cherries seem like they will be ready. Hopefully we can get a decent haul, however the tree is pretty small, so it might not work out. Who knows?