When we returned to town, I got an email asking if Sylvia wanted to be the substitute for the scouts high adventure trek to Swamp Base in Louisiana, in case somebody couldn't go. They were canoeing for a week, camping in hammocks and on islands, down in Louisiana's Atchatfalaya Swamp - the largest swamp/wetland area in the U.S.
We talked about it. I explained about the mosquitoes, heat and alligators. She still said yes. At this point we thought it was a slim chance she would be needed to go. Then on Tuesday, we got the email saying one boy was too sick to travel and Sylvia needed to be ready to go Saturday.
It was a flurry of gathering gear, clothing shopping, and money stress. Sylvia needed to earn some pocket money for the trip, so she took her violin up to Madison's farmers market to busk on a street corner during their lunch rush. It was hot, but a lot of people tossed bills in her case. She sounded great!
I had fun sitting in the shade with Ephraim down the block a bit, playing dominoes.
This little guy makes everything into an epic adventure.
After the lunch rush, Sylvia was hot and roasty, so we stopped in to see the children's museum and cool off. They had a really well done new exhibit featuring Frank LLoyd Wright, and how nature influenced his style of architecture. It is a great place to hang out. Very calming after the loud market. I'll be going back there to hang out more this winter.
Thursday was a whirlwind of shopping for clothing, sunblock, water shoes, a safety whistle,zip lock freezer bags and other misc items on the packing list, topped off by a trip to the dentist. Not too fun, but we had almost everything by the time the scouts did a gear check at the meeting that night.
Friday morning we were scheduled to be part of a homing pigeon release through a homeschool group in conjunction with the children's museum. The kids were supposed to meet at a park in Madison and write little notes to attach to the pigeons legs. The pigeons would be released into the air. We would then walk to the children's museum to see if the pigeons made it there with our notes. We had been reading books about pigeons all week, eagerly anticipating this event.
Then the storms moved in. Classic midwest thunder and lighting storms. They had to cancel the pigeon release, but offered to show us some of the other animals they keep at the children's museum. The storms passed, and we got to meet snakes, turtles, geckos and other animals. The pigeons were beautiful in their cage, we loved seeing them. I wish we could see them fly sometime with their little carrying cases on their legs!
This was one of those times when an unexpected misfortune turns into a good thing. Sylvia helped a homeschool girl, who does volunteer time at the Rooftop Ramble, show little week old baby chicks to the young children visiting the museum. I didn't know if she would enjoy that. I would have found it very stressful, but she loved doing it!
She said afterwards that she thinks having Ephraim around has trained her well. All the other little kids seemed easy compared to Ephraim! She showed the chicks to dozens of different little kids, letting them pet the chicks with a finger, and answering their questions. She would like to volunteer regularly in the fall. There is often a youth helper in the animal area, who will take out rats, or other animals to let kids touch them. Sylvia will be great at that job! She looks forward to learning about the other small animals they keep.
And what was Ephraim doing? Climbing with a couple of new buddies all over the rocks and waterfall area and getting wet! Both kids had a great time, even without the pigeons.
Once we got back home, Sylvia put all her gear together. She caribined her water bottles, packed a billion freezer bags with snacks, toiletries and small gear items, then helped spray permethrin on her quick-dry clothes to attempt to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
When it was done, we could finally celebrate Ephraim's big achievement of the day... LOSING HIS FIRST TOOTH!
He called both the grandmas, to share his bouncy excitement with somebody. He had some in depth conversations with them. My favorite snippit was a bit of advice he kindly offered to my mom over the phone "Never swallow a tooth, because then you'll shoot a tooth out of your bum, because tooths are stronger than cherry pits."
We did our traditional "first tooth interpretational dance" that we started 17 years ago, when Noel lost her first tooth, and we were looking for a fun way to celebrate it. We dance around with scarves, pretending to be teeth shooting upward, then loosening, and falling out. Finally we are carried away by the tooth fairy. This performance was especially epic, as we had smoke bombs lit occasionally to make it seem more magical. Chocolate cake, decorated by Ephraim, was a great end to the event.
The next morning, Sylvia made herself some eggs at 5AM, and loaded up to go to Swamp Base.
Yes, the smile is a bit forced. 4:45AM wake up times do not tend to create smiling teens.
It is a nice group of scouts going. Sylv is the first girl in the troop to attend a high adventure. The boy scouts just started letting the girls join this spring. It will be interesting to see what experiences Sylvia gains from them. She enjoys activities that require setting goals and challenging yourself, so it could be a good fit.
Stay tuned for a future post in ten days time, where Sylvia shares her swampy pictures and writes up how she did NOT get eaten by an alligator! I look forward to hearing her tales.
No comments:
Post a Comment