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