Just before dawn, los chillens and I decided to embark on a nature hike. It's amazing to me just how entertaining nature is. One of my favorite things about Waldorf education is the belief that children should not be limited to a playground, where they are taught how to play on structures, but should be set free in a natural environment to explore and develop their creativity.
So what do a set of brothers do to entertain themselves with virtually no limits?

Naturally, they find sticks along the way to become dangerous and very bad knights, protecting their princess (who currently is Scarlett, I'll have you know!).

"Oh, no, Bee, danger ahead. Hold my hand, it will be less scary." -Kid

Soon the said sword turns into a fishing pole at the pond, and Kid happens to catch three very leaf-like looking fish. Bee is just happy to watch. He had no interest in fishing.

At the very top of our destination (oh, how dreary the weather was!), Kid complimented Bee on his good hiking abilities. We've been working a lot on using encouraging words. Normally I have to prompt the encouragement, but today Kid did it all on his own. His phrase, "Bee, you have very strong hiking legs. You will be as good as a hiker as I am when you're three!"...not necessarily a selfless compliment, yet a loving one, none-the-less.

And like that, two more sticks were added to our outdoor collection.