Welcome to Tollgate Turtle Tells All: A Camp Exposé Part III. I’m Coltrane the Turtle, and today I will be revealing what camp is really like once the newness of Monday and Tuesday has passed, and the peppers are starting to get familiar with the routine. Spoiler alert: they have even MORE fun now that they are familiar with the farm. Also, Winged Wonders is still out exploring other lands, but hopefully my source can get me some snapshots of them ASAP!
Now that it’s Wednesday, the campers are really starting to become animal chore experts. The goats sure think so!
Smiles for the goats!
Surrounded by goats & happy about it ?
Another thing that the peppers are really starting to get the hang of is garden time. Today, not only did they get to eat some raspberries, but they got to make a toad home for any wandering toads looking for a place to stay.
Digging a toad home foundation
The finished home! It will be the envy of the neighborhood
Garden time = the best time
After this, however, it was time for the campers to try something totally new– vermicomposting! Now, you might be thinking: campers probably want nothing to do with worms! But the peppers did a great job getting up-close and personal with the Tollgate worms as they learned about all the great things that come from vermicomposting.
Ms. Madeline shares the joy of vermicomposting
This worm liked to twirl around and “breakdance”
Herman the Worm
And then it was time for the great migration challenge of 2018! In this obstacle course, campers had to pretend to be birds flying to Mexico while avoiding windmills, pesticides, and a hungry cat (all portrayed by campers, of course!)
Watch out for the windmill!
An agile pepper
Mr. Julian flaps his wings to help him get in character
After that, everyone took a moment to refuel so that they would be nice and recharged for the owl and fox hike. During this hike, campers were encouraged to use their owl listening ears and powerful eyes to sense other animals in the forest.
Owl eyes see all
Meditating while listening to the sounds of nature
While they were out in the forest, they also took the opportunity to play a game called camouflage, where campers played chipmunks that had to blend in the woods so that the “owl” wouldn’t be able to see them! The peppers did a great job finding clever places to hide.
A few chipmunks hide from the owl
Sneaky, sneaky!
After all the chipmunks were able to successfully evade the owl, peppers got to practice their sheep-herding skills! We talked about how to lead sheep without scaring them or being aggressive, and the campers really seemed to enjoy using their new skills.
You may not suspect it, but the sheep and I are great friends
Sheep stick together, haven’t you herd?
Insider info: this was many of the campers’ favorite activity of the day!
I also have been harboring a few pics of sheep shearing from yesterday, but I’m ready to reveal them now:
A new haircut that is cool for the summer
Shear joy
A great way for sheep to loose some weight
Campers also got the chance to continue working on their creature creations, which they have been molding out of clay. I have to say, their creatures are really starting to take shape (HA).
Insider info: this creation is a derivative of a unicorn!
And this one is a variation on the bison!
And of course, those cooking campers were back at it with Garden Kitchen! Today was a day filled with yummy veggies. I myself was quite fond of the rainbow rolls.
Rainbow rock & roll
Insider info: a lot of these veggies came straight from Tollgate!
Smiles over salad
Have you tried kohlrabi?
Campers should sleep well tonight!
The great thing about these recipes is that you can remove and replace ingredients so that it’s personalized to what you like!
Last but certainty not least, it’s Coltrane’s Captured Moment!
Great friendships start at camp!
If you liked the photos in the blog today, check out this Google Folder for even MORE great pictures of Animal Camp.
Think I’m done with my exposé after Part III? Think again. Part IV tomorrow– stay tuned!