Well, it was indeed a toasty night. The cousins came over and everyone wanted to do the camp out at grandma's house. She is just filling a pool with water which was definitely the highlight of the night. This was taken around 10pm! And yes, that water is straight from the hose and chilly.
There is something so fun about playing outside in the dark! The harsh flash makes for awful pictures, but fun was had!
We didn't need sleeping bags or a tent here so the digs were on the cushy side!
But somewhere around midnight everyone decided they were way too hot- as it was still around 96 degrees to actually sleep, so they all headed in, except grandma who made it through the entire night. Ironically, she was the only one who said she didn't want to join us for a night outside.
They still wanted to 'camp' so ended up here on the floor. I think we may have to wait until fall to start sleeping outdoors again...
I do really love to sleep outside whenever possible and even if not outside I sleep with my windows all the way open for some good fresh air at night.
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I just got this in my mailbox this morning, which I highly recommend listening to. It is David Wolfe talking on the new scientific information on walking barefoot. It's really great information! And well, I like it because it justifies me letting my littles go barefoot all the time- haha! I mean, it's one of those things where it is the most basic common sense principal in the world, but now we have scientific information to 'prove' that the world is in fact orderly and all of our modern conveniences interfere with the basic nature of the planet and if we would just return to a more natural state we'd be a lot better off. Just like the sunglasses thing. Now there are lots of studies saying that blocking UV rays from our retinas contributes to depression because those light rays are what help keep the brain in balance. I know plenty of people that never walk outside without sunglasses and rubber soled shoes and a whole lot of sunscreen on.
One of the things I love about David's clip is that he mentions Steiner. For those that are into Waldorf education- and I understand that not everyone is!! (I recently got a really intense hate email by an irate woman telling me I was ruining my children by exposing them to Waldorf- hahaha!!!)- it is a nice confirmation of some of the principals therein. He talks about EMF fields and how exposure to the natural world eliminates them. One of the main principals in Waldorf is having all natural materials for young children to play with. Now again, through scientific research we are able to see the difference between a natural wooden toy and one make from plastics and other artificial materials. I was recently at a neighbor's house and was again stunned by the toys available for her children. Everything was made of synthetics and almost all of them were battery operated plastic toys. Wow, was the energy in that room toxic! Plus the air condition running 24/7 here in Arizona - so who knows the last time a window was open. I could hardly stand to spend the 5 minutes I was there in that room. And then I'm reminded that most of the children in this country live in very similar environments. It's nuts.
I've also recently been turned on the Ringing Cedars series by a friend and can't put them down! They're pretty out there and poorly written but some of the information in them is just so fascinating! The basic story is that this Russian guy meets this woman who lives in Siberia in the woods alone and was mostly raised by animals. It is much debated whether or not she truly exists and all of that- but there is definitely lots of interesting information about how to get along with the natural world. For example, she says all of the animal and plant kingdoms are here to serve Man but we don't realize it. Like when bugs crawl on our skin and bite us- it is apparently to help us detoxify and clean and open our pores and where the bug bites is very specific to our individual condition. Now whether or not this is actually true - who knows! But I told my kids and now when little bugs crawl on them we just watch to where the bug crawls and whether or not they will bite. As opposed to what used to happen- a good swat and irritation by being bitten. She gives info on planting your own garden and says that before planting a seed you should put it under your tongue for a certain amount of time and the fruit or vegetable will grow with the precise nutrients that your body is in need of! I mean just the possibility of that being true is truly incredible! Nature is so incredibly intelligent. She also says that the more children are raised in nature the more they will excel technologically later since nothing that is ever invented doesn't already exist in nature. There is also a dvd available about a school in Russia that is based on some of her work- the kids built the school themselves, do the entire 10 yr curriculum in one year and graduate at 17 with Master's degrees. It all looks very fascinating and I can't wait to learn more...
