Caroling to the Seniors

We spent an hour doing a holiday caroling program for the seniors at the Park Avenue Health Center. The residents were so happy to have the kids come sing to them, and many joined in to sing the carols. A great community experience!

Holiday Party

We made ornaments and decorated gingerbread cookies. The ornaments and any donations went to a special organization called Joete's Playground. The cookies went into our bellies.

Scandinavian Christmas Traditions

Special thanks to Margaret Moore for teaching the girls about Scandinavian Christmas traditions. We made woven paper hearts and she read them a story. We ate genuine Swedish pepparkakor and then practiced for the Santa Lucia procession, which was the highlight of the Wreathmaking program.

Evensong at Trinity Church

We met at the church and enjoyed a fine meal of parking lot pizza and carrots, with special turkey guest! We then shuffled into to cars for the drive to Boston where we attended the Trinity Church Evensong.

The Evensong consists of songs (mostly by the youth choir) and readings. The congregation did join for one familiar hymn (Now the Day is Over). Esme Flandro, Arlington Ward alumna and Stake member, was part of the choir and she stopped briefly to say hello to us before the service started, so that was a nice connection.

Well, we do say Visitors Welcome

Crockadilly Oh My!

Picture from Keith Jensen:

Activi-TREE at Belmont Habitat

We met at the Belmont Habitat for a tree identification activity. The girls learned to identify white pines, red pines, paper birch, maple, red oak, white oak, hickory, beech, and cedar trees. They also quickly became proficient at Jewelweed seed popping. Thanks to Keith Jensen and Heather Dahle for joining us, and to Keith for the great photos!

The Summit! Turtle Pond, elevation gained: -12 feet

trees and stuff

deep engrossed by the tree guides

I promise I'm having fun

Paper birch

Jewelweed popping- by far the biggest hit of the activity

tree gazing

Up the trunk of maple

Getting to know you in 2017!

We enjoyed our first activity together. We played many getting to know you games and ended with a guided meditation for stress and anxiety reduction.

Games included:
Name activity (have girls make action with their name, build as you go around circle)

Candy Activity: take 1-5 pieces of M&Ms. Don't tell them why. After they've selected them, each girls tells the following things about themselves according to their chosen candy:
Red: hobbies, green: favorite place on earth, blue: favorite memory, yellow: dream job, orange: wildcard

Line Up: (level up: no talking) Birthdays, height, # of siblings,

Where do you stand:
(have girls stand on opposite sides of the room according to their preferences/experiences)
winter or summer?
sweet or salty?
Hawaii or New York City?
rock music or classical?
chocolate or strawberry?
Morning person or Night person?
Cats or dogs?
Swimming or running

Guided Meditation (a visualization method for stress and anxiety relaxation)

End of school year BBQ

We wrapped up our Activity Days school year with a smashing BBQ thrown at Corey's house with extra servings of food, games, and laughter. What an amazing group of girls!

The Air Up There

We traversed the ropes course up at Jordan's Furniture for some high-flying fun! Happy birthday to Mackenzie, and thanks to the Keenans for putting on such a fun activity.

Travels with Sister Taylor

Amber Taylor gave a presentation on her world travels and amazed the girls with tales of adventures across the globe.

Can she build it? Yes she can

We practiced tool skills at today's activity, including:

• hammering nails
• driving screws
• stapling with a staple gun
• using a power drill
• sanding

Fun times, and no one ended up in the ER! 

Whipple Hill Conquerers

We hiked through the Whipple Hill preserve, summitting Lexington's highest point and then braving fallen logs over vernal pools and making duck calls. A nature scavenger hunt helped guide them in their observations.

The Science of Bread-making

We learned about the science of bread making, and had a particular lesson about non-rising bread when I realized I had left the yeast at home. So we made tortillas! We also made butter by shaking cream in a jar.

Yoga Night

Namaste! Janna Westmoreland led us in a bendy adventure. The girls were fantastic about trying things and quite adept at the more complicated poses!

Cupcake War Activity Day Party