Short Tailed Weasels Expand and Play at Locust Beach

The Short Tailed Weasels met at Locust Beach for their last outing of the 2016-2017 season. We were glad to have some unseasonably warm weather today that allowed us to swim in the shallow waters of Bellingham Bay. Many of us were reacquainted with sunscreen in the parking lot before our outing for the first time this year.

The word of the day was expansive. The scenery, the beach, the clear skies, and the boys' excitement for mud and exploration were all expansive in a certain sense. The goal for the day was simple: get as far down the beach as we could and see what we find along the way! As it turned out, Locust beach had many hidden treasures for us that we uncovered during our exploration.

Heading out across the rocks

Where the mud meets the rocky beach

Our first discovery of the day, what kind of skeleton is it?!

One of the many cool beach forts that we found

What lives in the mud?

A neat tire swing we found

The head of a flounder!

Dungeness crab legs a-plenty 

Another skeleton!

In addition to cool things and places, Locust Beach has plenty of mud that begs to be splashed in, walked through, formed into sculptures and smeared on our faces. We enjoyed the freedom of getting totally muddy and loving it! Afterwards, we enjoyed a swim to get somewhat clean.

Yeah...this seems like a good idea!

Slowly but surely making our way

The mud is a kid trap!

Some of us utilized tools to more efficiently cross deep sections of mud

Out "at the edge"

Whether it was due to the excitement of the warm weather, the vast expanse of the beach or some other reason, the Short Tailed Weasels had difficulty today with respecting boundaries and making smart decisions. There were numerous times when the mentors had to remind boys to stay within sound distance, which was disheartening considering that the Short Tailed Weasels are no longer our youngest group and should be at a point where they follow our safety rules responsibly. Certainly, we all need gentle reminders that keep us on track throughout our lives, and hopefully the conversation that we had at closing circle regarding safety and respect resonates with these boys through the summer and carries over into the start of their 2017-2018 season next fall.

After our closing circle, we made the long trek back to the parking lot. Many of us met our edge in terms of sun exposure and hiking through knee deep mud today and it showed on our faces on the walk back. The expressions on our faces showed exhaustion for sure, but inside our cups were full of gratitude for an interesting exploration of Locust Beach.

The pictures from this outing are particularly awesome, given the setting of our location. Be sure to check out the rest in our photo album by clicking here!