Ironically the stormy weather has brought some very calm and lovely children to the Hazelhut this week. Most of them are animal lovers... which is good news for Belen! Some of them love birds too, which seems to be good news for Toni and Andi.... And all of them are respectful towards nature, which is crucial for happy Hazelhutting! Before dinner we spent time getting to know each other while making water colour pictures. Many of the children chose natural or meteorological themes for their pictures. For the first time this year, we ate the Sunday night lasagna and salad indoors as the storm has picked up again. Now the children are quietly watching 'Splash!', our evening film. Everyone seems comfortable and happy - long may it last.
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Once again it was time to say 'Goodbye!' to another group of Hazelhutters. Since this was one of the cleanest, tidiest, most organised groups we have ever had, it was possible to spend some time finishing our traditional Finnish pieces (not cake!) for the family tea party. Then we headed into a very hot Ronciglione for shopping and lunch! We were very thirsty, so stopped for a refresher in Tatiana's bar. Then these kids proved that they can shop like troopers! Everyone was grateful for a relax at lunchtime and for Marilena's delicious food. Back at the Hazelhut, we played some games in the cool of the basement and then the parents started to arrive.... ...So we handed out the certificates and prizes and once again sang the farewell song. We especially want to thank our Workaway family from Finland this week, for all the joy and novelty they brought - from yoga to coffee cake to hand rhythms and new vocabulary. We hope you will return.
The thermometer was reaching some top temperatures this morning, so we headed out fishing early... Everyone was very eager and a new Hazelhut record of 35 fish was set! When the fishing was done, the children enjoyed catching up with the little kittens born at the lake a few months ago. Back at the Hazelhut we had planned a healthy lunch because the vegetable garden is in overload and the children have been gathering vegetables all week! In the afternoon one of out teen helpers from Finland taught the children how to make a special Finnish cake for our Hazelhut parents tomorrow. The children were very eager to assist and the cake smelled delicious in the oven - we can't wait to taste it! Later the talent show was a huge hit with music and magic! Then, at the pizza party, there was even more music from Finland and Brazil! Adults, teen helpers and children enjoyed the tasty food and the kids made up games to play with the music - what a fun time!
Once we had welcomed our 5 day children to the Hazelhut this morning, we began our first activity - making a sock plushie.... this took a lot of patience and skills, but the results were worth it! After all that concentration we enjoyed some melon and biscuits... We clung to the shade at lunch time for our picnic as the sun was beating down today and the cats were suffering too! Almost everyone went in the pool later..... naturally... In the afternoon we were very lucky to have Kai, a music teacher from Finland, to teach us some new ways of looking at sound. It was amazing!!
Hazelhutters love Lago di Vico on a hot day, so we decided to forgo horse riding for a week and spend the day at the lake. The children enjoyed playing many games from badminton to Dobble in the shade of the trees. They read books and drew pictures and made hundreds of origami items. James made hotdogs for lunch... and after a brief rest to digest we all played some circle games together. The first was 'il conto'. Next we played 'Heads Down Thumbs Up'... Our final game was pass the clap, taught by one of the teenage helpers - it was very tricky! After another dip in the lake we ate some watermelon and then returned to the Hazelhut. After a whole day outdoors, the children were happy to spend some time inside and we took the opportunity to bring everyone back together for the Hat Game. One of the Hazelhutters made an excellent suggestion that we should supplement our fish finger dinner with a tasty poached egg or two.... so we did...YUM!
Our Hazelhutters were joined by 3 day children today and they showed us excellent throwing and archery skills They cooperated well in the water relay and showed that they are happy whether winning or losing. In the afternoon pool Olympics, we saw that they could swim fast and have no fear of being under water. This week we have been lucky to have Aino, a yoga teacher from Finland, with us and she worked with the group in the afternoon teaching us some relaxing but challenging positions. We felt proud of how open-minded the children were and how quickly they managed to learn. Thank you, Aino, for bringing something new to the Hazelhut! Before the children called home, they helped in the kitchen and garden so that we could have some tasty dishes this week. What a caring bunch they are!
Another Sunday and another group of children in the Hazelhut pool! ...Or nearby! After a refreshing dip and a quick snack, everyone moved to the art room for this week's recycle challenge - our object this time was..... old coffee bags! It looked so much fun that even James and Ottavia joined in! Later the children spoke to their families or enjoyed some free time.... ...but no Sunday is ever complete without... the dinner photo!
We were lucky to have a lovely fresh day for saying farewell to this week's Hazelhutters. The walk into town was comfortable and the children were happy to look at some of the sights of the city before we stopped for refreshments. We saw the castle.... and the old church of Sant' Andrea... where we shouted for a dear friend. Then the children walked through the old medieval main road to the bar for water and crisps. Of course we did our shopping and finished the week off with a delicious meal at the Corte Dei Prefetti di Vico. As we walked back to The Hazelhut, the sky turned darker and we could hear thunder, but we made it home just before the first drops of rain fell. The children were given their certificates at the ceremony. We celebrated the winners of Sports Day and then it was time for everyone to sing the Hazelhut song before they left. Enjoy the rest of your summer, everyone!
It was the perfect day to dip our fingers in some worms and do some fishing! So we headed up to a local fishing lake and started to dip our rods in...and before we knew it, fish were jumping out of the water! Two little kittens were sitting on the sidelines keeping a keen eye on what was coming out of the water. Our fishing ended at 11.30am, so the children relaxed in the park for a while. Back at the Hazelhut the children had hotdogs and watermelon for lunch and then the girls wanted to make chubby chickens..... so we made chubby chickens! Then everybody got a bit silly at the swimming pool.... so we decided that a group game would be more fun. 'Up Jenkins!' was the obvious choice. The children really enjoyed our pizza party in the evening and now they are all laughing at a very funny film - what a perfect last evening together!
Five day children joined the nine over-nighters for our arts day today. We began by collecting natural objects to study, draw and paint. The children showed that when they really concentrated they could see a lot more than first met the eye! The next activity was based around music and rhythm. The children used yesterday's bamboos to beat out rhythms along side a metronome. For lunch many of the children chose to go back up into the tree house to enjoy their sandwiches. In their free time many Hazelhutters played football and other outdoor games and of course the pool was busy, but some continued with the artistic theme of the day! In the afternoon before the day children went home, we played a drama game with boys against girls.... and these rather dramatic girls won! Our last picture from today is of dinner time when we enjoyed fish fingers on the terrace. Sadly these Hazelhutters are not big fans of vegetables (yet!) however they are trying more different things....
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