Well, yesterday ran away and I didn’t get back to write (obviously). Maia was still feeling pretty sick, so she watched a movie on the Kindle in the tent, Aliya and Sarah napped, and Keana and I had a nice little hike exploring the forest and Hare Creek. We spent most of the rest of the day on the beach yesterday since the weather was absolutely perfect. We also made some friends, too! First we met Ayan, Liza, their daughter Luna (7) and son Xavi (2), as well as their friend Liz. And of course Luna and the girls hit it off instantly and were off to play amongst the waves, rocks, and seaweed before they even knew each other’s names. Then another little girl slowly gravitated across the beach towards them as they ran from waves, and slowly folded into the pack. Her name was Anya (10) and we met her dad Chris (an engineer/contractor) and her mom, Cindy, who happened to be a teacher who went through the San Diego Area Writing Project summer institute last summer. Quite a small world indeed. So the kids played and the adults visited throughout the day.

I think one of the highlights was when the girls had collected seaweed for about an hour then decided to make dresses out if it. Luna took the roll of designer, though they all seemed to have a vision. Keana was eager to be the first model and immediately Aliya wanted in on the action. So as the older girls dressed each other, Sarah tended to Aliya making her a little seaweed hula skirt with a seaweed head dress. As usual the adults were all staying their distance from each other until our kids basically forced us together. But through this forced interaction we discovered cool things about the people around us. Like the Writing Project connection with Anya’s mom (Cindy) and the fact that Ayan was in the restaurant business, and happened to be a former owner/partner in the Blue Ribbon chain if restaurants in New York. They were also in the process of scoping out Northern California because they were looking into moving from Boulder to here, so we got a chance to hear about their plans and offer what little knowledge we had about Berkeley and surrounding areas.

So the kids set a plan to have a picnic together at 09:00 today and it was just about that time when Luna came down from the forest to visit. We ended up feeding her breakfast and then they were off, back to the beach. It’s tough to let them be free but also keep them fed and safe (i.e. sunscreen’d, out of poison oak, and in bed before they totally melt down). And that is how last night ended: Maia in total melt down. She eventually was able to say she wanted to go to the car, so I took her and we talked. We were able to figure out together that it’s hard camping because of all the unknown variables. When she doesn’t know what’s going to happen or *how* things are going to happen, it causes fear and having to navigate all the different variables throughout the day really wears her down. Not to mention that she was still recovering from being quite sick. I think being in the car helped her get back to a familiar, enclosed, safe place and we were able to work through some if the issues, or at least better understand them. I also reassured her that we can always go home which was comforting too, even though she really didn’t want to leave. There’s a lot of complicated things going on for Maia that she’s struggling with, but really, she’s doing a great job figuring out what it is that’s upsetting her and communicating that. Even if it happens after a melt down.

But today was good. Lots of play time with friends, they had their picnic by the river in the forest, and we took Luna on a hike to the waterfalls with us. They all had their walking sticks, sang songs along the way, and even Aliya hiked on her own. We had to do some lifting to get up and down from the waterfalls, and I was bummed that I forgot a camera. But we enjoyed dipping our feet in the pool beneath the two falls that were pouring down from 200 ft. up. On our way down from the falls, trying to find a smoother route down to the trail with Maia on my back, I climbed down small crevice formed from a large log wedged against a couple boulders. When I got down and signaled up to the others to follow, I saw a pretty large garter snake coiled up in the crack we had just traversed. Needless to say, we found another route for the others, but it was cool to be able to show the kids a real snake in the wild.  Then it was back to camp, knowing that we needed to get a jump on dinner.

Part of what Maia and I agreed on the night before was trying to keep dinner and bedtime closer to normal time so she could count on something. Luna’s parents weren’t back from town so she had dinner with us and they played a little more on the beach after. There was the beginning of a meltdown as we got ready for bed, but Sarah suggested I put Maia on my back in the Ergo and that seemed to settle her down. So Maia was my backpack helper for closing up camp for the night and it was pretty cool, really. She had comfort and had someone to talk to and sing me songs. She was almost asleep by the time I was ready to head in and Keana and I have been writing since. Maia and Keana are now catching up on the facts about ticks and plans for tomorrow. Sarah’s given one annoyed “aren’t you guys done yet?” so I guess I better shut it down. Till tomorrow…maybe…

Keana’s Selection:

Then we put on real clothes and went to the secret island. We had nectarines, a chocolate bar, crackers with honey, and sandwiches. Then we payed explorer. Then we went the bathroom. Then we went to Luna’s camp. We played on the tent pole and Luna got the highest. Then we went on a hike with Luna. We made up songs on the way there. Then we climbed up to the waterfall. We saw a worm that loved the water. Then we hiked back.

When we got to the camp sites, me and Luna ran to the bathroom. We saw a huge daddy-long-leg. Then Luna came over for dinner. After dinner we went and played in the sand. We played mermaids and humans. Then we went back to camp and Luna forgot her Camelback. Then I had three more tacos.