May Day Celebration

I am just bursting with joy today as I reflect on the amazing amount of fun that we had yesterday sharing in the celebration of May Day and the welcoming of Spring with a nearby Waldorf school that so generously allowed us to join in with their families.

We had never been to the park that we were all to meet at and I wasn't quite sure what to expect as we made our way down a gravel path leading behind the industrial buildings along the roadside. Not far along we crossed a wooden bridge with a small creek running below it and just beyond was a wide open field surrounded by forest.

It was as if we had stepped out of the city and directly into a country field as the surrounding brush and trees closed out all signs of the bustling streets beyond.

  

There were colorful blankets placed around the field with a cluster of children and parents in the center busily working together creating flower wreaths to be worn in their hair. The children and I found strings of ivy that had been cut into long lengths just perfect for creating the sturdy bases of our wreaths and we settled on a rainbow colored blanket to weave our ivy and flowers into wonderful floral creations to wear :)

It was so cute to see all of the little ones running around and playing in the sunshine with their flower crowns on and as everyone finished up we joined in a large circle around the May pole to get started. The littlest children in kindergarten were first as they sang and weaved around one another, sometimes into each other, but so bright were their faces as they performed what they had learned for the special day.

As each group of children took turns skipping around the May pole and winding up the ribbons in different patterns it was finally time for any visitors or parents with tots to join in and my little guy in the photo above was beyond excited as he had thought he wasn't going to get a turn *grin*.

My oldest son even took part in one of the rounds with his crown of flowers upon his head :) 

He's 13 years old and growing up so quickly but I'm so thankful that he still enjoys joining in with the younger two and has fun doing it.  

When all of the children had taken a turn around the May pole it was time for just the adults to try something a little trickier. We were all numbered either a '1' or a '2' and then both groups moved in different directions around the pole as we weaved over and under one another as the waldorf teachers sang White Coral Bells. What a challenge that proved to be *grin*. Once in a while there was a little mix up but we all giggled and smiled as we fudged through it while creating a lovely braid down the May pole.

With the festivities winding up for the afternoon we shared a lovely snack of fresh fruits and veggies, raw brownies and other goodies and made our way back home where the children have been talking about it ever since :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Nature walk along the Puntledge

I know our daily nature sharings are over but that doesn't mean that our outdoor explorations have ended :)

Today we trekked along the Puntledge River with a small group of homeschoolers to find a marshy area where we could search for frogs & salamanders.

After flipping over rotten logs, collecting worms and seeing lots of little wood or sow bugs we finally came to a good wet spot to search for frogs but there were none to be found. There was a brief sighting of a tree frog hopping out of a skunk cabbage but other than that we came up empty handed :(

Check out the size of that skunk cabbage! It's just about as tall as M *grin*.

There were lots of native plants to be found. This beautiful pink Salmon Berry bloom...

Trillium flowers...

I'm not sure what these are but they had the most interesting blooms that looked like they were ready to explode...

and loads of pretty Bleeding Hearts :)

As the rest of us scouted out the area for salamanders and other critters M and daddy stole a quiet moment by themselves and watched the river rush by :) It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

~ Rosina