Is it Thursday already?

The days continue to be glorious, warm and sunny, full of laughter and learning. My culinary dreams came through this morning with blueberry pancakes. I didn't see a single leftover flapjack on the trays this morning as campers devoured some ham and bananas on the side.  Everyone pitches in here to set tables, deliver food, clear and clean after meals, and put waste into the compost or landfill buckets as appropriate.

Mr. Rousseau arrived, bearing a much welcome gift of coffee for each of his staff.  The five of us joined every for morning music. We belted out the Banana Slug song, Wild Thing (camp style), and a few more and watched some amusing sketched.

Our intrepid principal made his lunch with the day hikers and headed off to Spider Mountain with David and his campers.  We sure appreciate the way he comes and engages directly with our 5th graders every year.

I wandered down for the River study with John's group. It's a great place to view our scientists in action and enjoy the sounds and sights of nature in every direction. The team are making observations to determine the health of the river.  After visual observations, students took the temperature of the water, finding temperatures around 60°F and 14°C.  I taught them how to convert between the two, and we discussed that all measurements were very close which supports their validity.  Students then went on to test the pH of the water and compare that against optimal levels.

My next stop was to connect with Mary's group.  They were wrapping up at the Habitat House and heading down to the pool. It's a lovely facility.  Campers were given a quick swimming check and assigned a yellow wrist band (freedom to swim anywhere) or an orange band (keep within arms reach of your buddy). I swam with three inexperienced swimmers to ensure they had direct oversight in addition to the lifeguarding staff at hand.  The water was brisk, but the air temperature is quite warm here (around 90°F). It was a welcome activity for all of us.

Lunch was scrumptious cheese ravioli, garlic bread, broccoli, cauliflower, and salad including garden fresh tomatoes, cucumber and berries. Plates were wiped cleaned and many tables opted for seconds.

We are down to less than 24 hours.  Wow, did that fly by in a hurry!