Until this day, we had not received more than a drizzle at Live Oak! Thursday was our first “real” rain. The moment we stepped out of the van we were reaching for our umbrellas. The first thing we all wanted to do was check our dry creek bed. It was still dry- despite it raining all morning- since before the sun came up.
Next up was jumping in all of the puddles!
Some of the kids were drawn back to the creek bed- lo and behold, we got to see water flowing down stream! The first water flowing down from Holy Jim Falls! A bit of information that we learned from the O’Neil park ranger- the source of Trabuco Creek is Holy Jim Falls! Trabuco eventually merges with Tijeras Creek, then San Juan Creek, and then flows into Doheny.
Feeling like we barely had enough time to explore the quickly changing environment, it was time to meet the park ranger at the nature center.
We couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone. We spent our last 45 minutes of the day recording our findings in our nature journals. The kids are getting in the habit of recording the date, the weather, their location, and any new plants and animals sited. This looks a little different across ages but the idea of recording their findings has been developing throughout the year.
This day was far from our typical routine of readings, oral and written narrations, copywork, recitations, etc. but it was full of real life learning experiences nonetheless! I still can’t get over the fact that we got to witness the water flowing down the creek bed for the first time this season! I look forward to see how the environment at O’Neil continues to change as a result of water flowing through the creek. Spring will bring exciting new life!
Rain
Robert Louis Stevenson
The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
Live Oak Education 
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