Outing to Arroyo Park 11-15-15

"Dark Starlight" was what we named this salmon.

Beautiful sunny day, it was! Until we headed down into the "Icebox of the Chuckanuts". The Arroyo canyon doesn't receive much sunlight at this time of year (or any?) and today was another day to earn it's name. We were so lucky to have the positive energy of two fabulous EMAs for this outing, Hadley and Hilary. These experienced Explorers Mentor Apprentices are lovely girls for the Salish Seals to look to for gentle guidance, friendly support, a helping hand, naturalist knowledge, stories, and as examples of engaged participation during our outings.

Preparedness for any kind of weather is key for outings, as these girls are learning. We made like our namesakes and dressed as seals, today, immediately donning all our warm layers and waterproof gear! Rain pants are especially crucial for exploring outdoors for five hours, as the foliage was mighty wet from the days of rain preceding our time. And gosh, could we tell it had been raining. A LOT. Chuckanut Creek was flowing faster and muddier than this Explorer can remember.

We started our day with a warm-up name game, which was hard to stop because it was so fun! This new group is young and the time between outings can feel long, so this was an important connecting activity for us all and refreshed our memories. We reviewed where they had been on their outings, so far, and decided that we can always extend a helping hand of service wherever we go, since we started picking up trash in the parking lot before even beginning our day! Our Leaders of the Day were chosen and immediately settled into Collaborating and Compromising on a plan for our outing, which mostly consisted of which area to explore after a brief description of options by the mentors.

All Things are Connected was our motto and the theme song to our entire day. Other than a silly song called, "Hurry up, Holly", which the Seals made up on their own. Not sure why...  : ) Here are a few of the Connections we discovered and explored:

Yay for EMAs teaching us stuff!

• Licorice Fern is connected to Maple trees, they're best friends in fact. Hilary showed us how to carefully harvest using the 1 in 20 principle and keeping in mind 7 generations. Hadley shared her LOVE for Licorice Fern root!

• Magic Trees: We climbed the Magic tree that's fallen over the Creek, functioning as both a Nurse Log and an awesome bridge to the other bank. However, our trusty and brave EMAs kept us safe by advising it was too slippery, today, to cross safely with the creek raging below us. 
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  Lichen in a bed of moss.

  Lichen! Alice Algae took a liking to Freddy Fungus, it's said. This saying helps us remember that Lichen consists of two very different parts that are connected and work together in a partnership. Your Explorer might remember which part provides the structure, and which part makes the food. 

• Salmon to oceans, and forests. During their life cycle, salmon swim out to the Salish Sea and the ocean, then back home again. In death, salmon provide many needed nutrients to creek inhabitants, but also to trees a mile deep into the forest (and beyond). Ask your Explorer how salmon DNA ends in those far away trees. Hint: They have a winged helper. 

• Watersheds! The rain falls into this watershed basin, collecting into Chuckanut Creek, flowing into Bellingham Bay, which flows through the Salish Sea, which is connected to the Pacific Ocean, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and eventually reaches around through bodies of water to right. back. here. Many of us built Wish Boats to float down this creek, bringing our wishes to the ocean and beyond.

• Spider's Web. Predator-Prey connection. The Seals LOVED this game and played multiple rounds with much enthusiasm and integrity.

• Peaceful Place. Silent, solo, safe, still. These seals took a moment to pause, reflect and build fairy houses. And spy on mysterious animal homes.

Closing Web of Life activity (a GEC tradition).

• We are all Connected. Each one of us mentioned something we felt connected to, today, for our Web Of Life closing circle activity. The Seals brought rivers, oceans, mushrooms, trees, salmon, mysterious black thing, death and plants amongst our answers.

Words of the Day: Salmon, earth, climbing, mushrooms, Spider's Web, Magic trees.

Photo Link to our album for today!

Squalicum Creek Park Service, 10-17-15

We were anticipating a rainy work day on Saturday as we all met at Squalicum Creek Park.  The rain never came and we enjoyed perfect weather for loading and hauling mulch, digging and preparing for the planting of trees, and, of course, games.

We first sat as a group and revisited some of our mottos.  What does it mean to "Walk your Talk" What is meant by "We, Not (just) Me"?  With help from the girls, Hadley and Susie presented a demonstration to illustrate "Our Cups Overflow".  The Salish Seals are really taking these mottos to heart and know them well.

We began our work day loading mulch from a large pile into our buckets.  What a hoot watching all the different "styles" of loading:  sitting on buckets and scooping, squatting in front of buckets and pushing the mulch into the buckets...and digging with feet, exploding the mulch backwards into the buckets!

Before we got too far into our work, we were asked to assist Mayor Kelli Linville in the dedication of a tree to commemorate Arbor Day.  October 17th is now officially Arbor Day in the city of Bellingham, and the Salish Seals ceremoniously spread mulch while the mayor looked on...

We spent the rest of our morning "Walking our Talk" about service, hauling bucket after bucket to trees that needed mulch.  These girls showed up ready to work and their efforts were appreciated!

Such a good day! We ended our time together by playing some favorite games: Run, Rabbit, Run and Head/Tail Tag. Thanks, Salish Seals, for showing up ready and working so hard!

Words of the Day: Mulch, Planting, Happy Day with Mayor Ends with Cookies!

Check out our photo album for more photos!

Whatcom Creek Service, 9-19-15

Under a grey misting blanket of clouds, the brave (and slightly sleepy) Salish Seals came together with the Fiddleheads on a Saturday morning to serve, learn, play, and connect at the Bellingham library. As girls gathered at Lee Memorial Park (behind the library), we played a couple rousing games of Head Butt Tag and Your Biggest Fan to get our blood circulating and warm our spirits for our task ahead.

At our check-in, we moved our bodies according to how we were feeling this particular morning, and there was lots of stretching, for sure! This idea of stretching extends into Stretching Your Edge, a EC motto sure to apply over the course of the season, and the years ahead. These mottos serve as a reference to the culture of respect and growth we are continually fostering here during our outings. Other mottos explored by these girls were Widen the Circle, Walk Your Talk and Our Cups Overflow. Test your daughter's memory by asking her what these mean, and maybe even ask her to show you a demo of Our Cups Overflow! (All of our mottos can be found on our website.)

We talked about the importance of serving in a community, and came together with the Fiddleheads for the Our Cups overflow activity. 

Hannah demonstrates Our Cups Overflow for Salish Seals and Fiddleheads

We widened our circles by playing a couple of bonding games (Logger Handshake and People to People) with these new friends! Energy was high and we were all warmed up and ready to tackle our service project en force. We walked over to City Hall and were greeted by the friendly staff at Greenways. The Salish Seals were excited to learn that we would be helping an "island," a lovely cluster of plants in the middle of a concrete walking path. Zandra, the knowledgeable and welcoming leader from Greenways, led us over to the island and taught us about the overgrown plants we'd be removing to make the area more beautiful AND more safe for everyone who walks by: rose, horsetail and dead fern fronds. Greenways crew provided us with many tips to keep our Safety First, including wearing gloves and carrying and using tools safely.

Rae with Greenways preps the girls for their service projects

These Salish Seals went to work removing the designated plants, using their hands, clippers and hori hori tools to clean up the island. While serving we Widened the Circle by working together to tackle the overgrown plants. Many of these girls focused their abundant energy on taking down the wild and thorny rose bushes, and a few girls have the war wounds to prove it. Getting poked by the thorns did not slow us down much. We did marvel at the thorn structure and ability to protect this plant. Since the Rose hips were so plentiful and ready for harvest, we gathered several pounds of Rose hips for their beauty and their medicine, as Rose hips have a lot of Vitamin C! Our EMA, Hilary took lead on our harvest. We also encountered a mystery in the rose bushes. We found some interesting Dr. Seussian mossy blobs (insect gall) near the end of a few branches. Our curiosity took ahold and we cut one open to peek inside! Ask your child if she saw what lies within. Clue: they were wiggly. Very wiggly.

Holly and the girls work hard to remove these thorny rose bushes!

Harvested Rose hips

These girls worked with integrity and great focus, and had more fun than they expected for nearly 3 hours in the spitting rain and chill of the day. Despite these conditions, parents may be surprised that there was ZERO complaining. There were a few discussions about who's turn it was to use the clippers, as these were the most useful tool today and in high demand. Waiting when you REALLY want something is a good exercise in practicing patience, right?  We may have discovered that doing good physical work can be fun! After finishing our service project and walking around the island (A Victory Lap) to see the difference we had made, Rae with Greenways came over to thank us for our service and help us haul our load back to City Hall. This area we had been working on, across the street from the northeast corner of City Hall, has been an Explorers Club service project site for years, so we are now part of this special tradition! 

Hauling our overgrown plants back to City Hall

We wrapped up this outing by eating lunch together with the Fiddleheads and returned to the library lawn to hold our closing circle with a round of our Attitude of gratitude in which we give thanks for one thing about our morning. We left just enough room to play Toilet Tag, Turkey Vulture Tag and an excellent game of Snorts. 

* Words of the Day? Clean-up Committee, Tag-a-Thon, Happiness Party!

Check out our photo album for a full look at our day!

Outing to Clayton Beach 8-30-15

Hello, Salish Seals families!

We are trying a new format for sharing reports and photos from Girls Explorers Club (GEC) outings. Each day will be featured in a blog post (like this one) with a link to the day's pictures. Your feedback is welcome as we test out this new system!

Salish Seals

What a fun-filled day we had exploring with your wonderful daughters! It was a day of connection, laughter, adventure, and discovery. After the day was through, Rebecca, Hilary, and I commented on how kind and enthusiastic these gals are! The girls were quick to lend a helping hand, they Widened Their Circle and met new friends, and they explored nature with open eyes and open hearts. As we dove deeper into our first adventure as the Salish Seals, the group melded together as old friends reunited and new friendships began to blossom. We had the thought that some of these girls might explore nature and life's journey together for years to come; how amazing to think that some of these girls might stay together up to and throughout their middle school years, forming a strong and beautiful sisterhood that will help support them as they continue to grow into adulthood.

Explorers' Club has several mottos that we'll be referring to frequently.  One we introduced, Sunday, is It's About the Journey, Not the Destination. We move slowly, discovering our surroundings and ourselves as we travel. Thus, sometimes it takes awhile to "get" to where we're "going" (wherever we are is where we're going!). For example, our day began at 12:00. We arrived at the beach at 2:30! We took some time to get to know each other, learning each other's names (and nicknames!), and a little about who we are and what we like to do. Along the way to the beach, we looked in awe at the fallen branches from Saturday's wind storm. Nature truly is an amazing and powerful thing! The girls were introduced to forest bathroom etiquette, many chose to Stretch Their Edge by climbing up the Dragon's Spine Trail, and they all practiced Collaborate and Compromise, making decisions as a group about which direction they'd like to go, in the style of circular leadership. They girls did a great job with this, especially for our first day together - Ask your daughter to tell you about it!

Dragon's Spine Trail

On the beach, we scrambled over sandstone, discovered the intertidal zone and all the crabs, limpets, and sea anemones living within; built fairy houses in Madrona trees and fairy slides in the tide pools; and enjoyed quiet time in our Peaceful Places, observing nature and connecting to the sand, waves, and wind that surrounded us. 

Clayton Beach

Other Explorers' Club mottos were woven throughout the day (such as: Be Prepared, Safety First, S.T.O.P, We're All Teachers, Attitude of Gratitude, LIBK-Let It Be Known, Always Meet Before You Eat). We just touched on our mottos yesterday - over time in EC they get fleshed out, deepened, and added to by others. We also just tasted some EC core routines, like opening and closing meeting, collaborative decision making, Peaceful Place time, naturalist knowledge, and circle of thanks. Another EC core routine, collaboratively deciding upon our Words of The Day, yielded this joyful description from the girls: "Beach, Friends, Happiness Party!"

That was an overview of our day, but there was much more. I invite you to check out the full photo album with your daughter, and she can fill in the rest.

Thank you for this opportunity to explore with your girls - It is an honor!

- Susie, Rebecca, & Hilary