Celebrations

There are so many highlights from the past two weeks, it is hard to do them all justice. We decided to make this particular blog a little heavy on the pictures to try to help capture all the wonder. It's been a series of celebrations: of growing things, of building things, and of our school community.

We all went to the butterfly and hummingbird garden in Middleburgh to plant the zinnias we started as seeds two months ago. Seeing the big kids guide and play with the little kids was magical. They were instructive and helpful without being bossy. They also had so much fun chasing each other around in circles and exploring all of the flowers already blooming in the garden.

Our kids have been creating so much in their outdoor play lately. They organized parachute play and saw how high they could make it float in the air. They have been building seesaws and "lava paths" out of some of our moveable wooden parts. The top of the hill was the site of some fine dining with flower petal soup, dandelion tacos, and maple leaf dumplings. The waiters were kept running to various parts of the hillside, bringing a whole new meaning to "farm to table" dining. Various kids made a series of obstacle courses that had everyone jumping, running, and dodging around. In the woods, one of our favorite downed trees has been doing time as a dragon, transporting the kids to places all around the world and the solar system - who knew dragons could fly to Mars?

The creation energy has been flowing inside as well. The block towers, towns, and castles have been particularly elaborate these last few weeks. One child was talking about how she used repeating patterns with her blocks to help make it look nice. Another group of kids was talking about how to use the Kapla blocks to make the strongest structure possible.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the week was the surprise party that the kids threw for us last Friday. They had everything: presents, treats, homemade cards! They managed to keep it a secret (mostly), and they truly surprised us.

When I was thanking one group of kids, one child turned to me with a grin, "Did we fill your bucket Tracy?"

"Oh yes!" I answered. "My bucket is so full it's running over the sides like a waterfall."

"That fills my bucket too," she said.

Yes, indeed.