Rockclimbing

Today, we went rockclimbing.

It was AMAZING.



I challenged myself to do more than I thought I could; I saw the rocks upon arrival and thought, "No way in heck can I climb those!". And yet, I finished 5 climbs, repelled myself three times, and was told I had the best belaying technique. Whoo!



On the first climb, I made it about halfway up and slipped. Terrifying! I probably stood on the rock for 5 minutes just holding on for dear life. :) I finally made it to the top, and Fred Stanley showed me how to repel down.

Look at me go!


After that, everytime I started climbing I was fine, until I got about halfway up and realized I was on a sheet of rock and the only thing holding me up was these crazy shoes and a slight bump in the rock!

Afterwards, we made it to Leavenworth and had dinner at Gustav's. Pretty good, got a burger this time but should have stuck with fish and chips. :)


HOW A PERSON PLAYS A GAME SHOWS SOME OF THEIR CHARACTER; HOW A PERSON LOSES A GAME SHOWS ALL OF IT.
- UNKNOWN


http://www.parks.wa.gov/default.aspx?404;http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp
Where we climbed.

Honor's Camp

Well, this weekend we drove to Wenatchee and helped out with 8th grade Honor's Camp.

It was okay.

Friday: We all met at the Golden Dragon and had a big Chinese buffet before we left for camp. Who knew when we would be getting fed again?? We all took off around 1:30 in the afternoon. I drove, with Katie G., Carli, and Tiffy. It was a pretty fun ride!

We got to camp around 3:30, then set up our cabins. Apparently the girls lost one of our cabins to some sort of babysitter, so some of the girls had to sleep in a conference room place. It was heated, and no bugs, but also no blinds, so you would be completely exposed. I decided I'd tough it out in the cabin, so we set up shop.

Dinner was good that night, we had a taco bar. Yum yum. We had to make sure we only took a serving size though, apparently a group before didn't do that and about 20 kids didn't get fed. Poor chillins.

After dinner, we had some free time, so we went back and made our cabin cozy. Or as cozy as it can be when there are candy wrappers stuck to the plastic mattresses, and when one bunk has DIRTY little girl underwear and socks that were once white but are now brown. Yuck.

After free time, we went down to the campfire for skits and songs. I was surprised; a lot of these songs seemed way too childish for the 8th graders, but oh well. The skit Jason, Aaron, and Vinny did was preeeeetty funny! The kids loved it, too. After campfire, we were able to have snacks (PB&J's) and then bedtime. Us PE kids decided to have our own S'more night, and made a good job of it, too. We sat around our fire and talked about stuff, some appropriate, some not (but who expected any different?), and then hit the hay around 11:30.

I had a hard time sleeping Friday night. Not a big bug fan, the cabins were dirty. To top it off, I thought it was going to be cold, so I brought my nice sleeping bag that just so happens to be rated for -15 degrees F. Idiot. I sleep bundled inside my sleeping bag with my head covered and got waaaaay too hot. But I was too afraid of bugs crawling everywhere to let my head out, so I sweated a lot. I finally peeled my sleeping bag back, but then my upper body was freezing and my legs were still sweating. Not a fun night. Woke up and went to breakfast in the morning. French toast. Woop woop. Then we did our activities.

Our first group was definitely a trial run; figured it out by the second group, then broke for lunch. Dreamcatchers was not my first favorite activity, but next time we'll be faster about getting our ideas in.

We had two or three more groups in the afternoon, then broke for some free time..

Then we went to the other side of the lake, just the PE kids, and hung out for an hour. We have an awesome group. I mean, just look at us!

Had some time to shower and get ready before dinner. Yum. Can't remember what we had, but it wasn't as good as tacos. I think we had spaghetti, and I was still hungry.

After that, we got ready for 80's night. I rocked a scrunched side pony, ribbon spandex, leg warmers, and a teal shirt. The rest of the girls had pretty awesome outfits, too, as you can see.

After we got ready, we did some more campfire stuff, with another skit. I got to be part of the distraction, pretty fun! Then we went to the 80's dance! The dance was okay; the DJ sucked. It's kind of funny watching all of the kids dance to 80's, especially since they were born after them, but really, so were we, so oh well!

After that, we hit the hay, then woke up and did two more lessons. After those, we swept, packed up camp, and left! Some of us stopped in Leavenworth on the way back and ate at Gustav's, then headed home.

All in all, it was an okay weekend; some great parts, some not so great parts.

Biking! .. oh wait, nope!

Well, today was the day we were supposed to go on the intermediate bike ride, and the hardcore group would do their hike. However, it had to stinkin' rain again, and there was a flood warning for where we were supposed to ride, so instead we stayed and did some more circus arts!

Today I managed to test out in juggling (advanced!) and the flower sticks (Yup! Advanced!), so that was pretty cool. Worked some more on unicycling but still not quite getting the hang of it yet.

Was hoping that since I had a few more days before we went biking I would be able to ride my bike around and get my seat broken in... but we have Honor's camp this weekend! Oh well!

We'll see how this weekend turns out! Not a huge fan of cabins, but hopefully these ones are clean!

Geocaching

Today we did more walking over campus for Geocaching. It was actually pretty fun, we got to hide our own cache, use a GPS device to figure out the exact coordinates of our cache, then turned them into Leanne and she created a sheet for us. While she was doing that, we were meeting with RT students and sharing our activities with them, and then performing some icebreakers to help us get to know them.





After that "fun" little session, we got to get back with our groups and search out the other caches. Our group (excuse me, BECKY) messed up our clue, so the other groups had not a lot to go on on where to find ours. :) Oops!





I think it was supposed to be individual groups, but we all had the same idea and headed to the same place...

Aaahhh, we're a fun group!

http://www.geocaching.com/

Orienteering.

Today we got to do Orienteering, where we move with a compass and follow maps.

I actually really enjoyed today, I thought it was a ton of fun and really enjoyed learning how to properly use a compass.

The final activity was fun too; it was neat to be able to walk all over campus and find out neat things about the history of Central that we probably wouldn't have known otherwise. The only thing that stunk was that is was super windy, so we had to make sure we didn't lose our clues and map!

Circus Practice

Today we were supposed to head out to Doc's house and practice archery/biking. However, it's been pretty wet the past week and the ground at his place was soaked, so we stayed and practiced circus arts for an hour and a half or so instead. Made more progress on unicycling... can't wait until I nail it!


The crazy tricks you can do with a diabolo:
http://www.diabolotricks.com/

Inline - Second Chance

Today we got all suited up in our inline pads and practiced skating around the Field House. While it feels a little more safe in the field house, it's got more friction than out on the tennis courts, so you slow down pretty quickly. We practiced some hockey skills, and then broke for lunch. After lunch, we could either play a hockey game or we could practice our circus arts.

I decided to practice circus arts and made some progress on my unicycling. Whoo!

Honor's Camp Presentations

Today we all got dressed up and presented on our topics for Honor's Camp. I was really impressed with the variety of ideas we all had, and also at how well we can all dress up if we want to! :)

Still a little unsure of how I'm going to like Honor's Camp.... could be good, could be bad!

P.E.A.K & Indo Boards

Friday morning I attended a session about Indo Boards. I'm sure you all are asking the same question I did when I heard that term; what the heck are Indo Boards??
Indo Boards are surfboard-inspired boards that are used on a variety of different types of rolling/unstable objects and that force you to use your balancing skills to stay on. I attended the morning session, where we helped introduce the D.P.E. students to the Indo boards. While everyone in the class were able to get on and at least balance, we had two exceptional students who obviously did board sports and picked up on the activity very quickly. They were soon doing skateboarding moves and other tricks the session host introduced to and challenged them with.

I think the Indo boards are a great way to get physical education students doing something different, and will highlight the skills of those who are generally considered "less skilled", simply because their athletic abilities and taste run in a different direction. Also, the Indo boards are fairly individualized, so students can move at their own pace and challenge themselves accordingly.



Saturday I helped out with Central's conference, P.E.A.K. (Physical Education Activity Kaleidoscope). I volunteered to help with the heart rate monitor table, which was fun and it was great introducing the idea of heart rate monitors into classrooms. Since the table was in the cafeteria/commons, I was able to see every session going on in that area, which was nice or else I would probably not have learned anything. Mr. Hagbo re-introduced GeoFitness to us, for both elementary and secondary levels, the dance instructor for Orchesis taught two short routines, and Mrs. D'Acquisto introduced us to Express Core workouts (my abs are STILL sore!).

I found the conference to be small, and yet still educational, although I tend to enjoy smaller crowds of people in general. Would have loved to see Mr. Affholter's presentation on Bigger, Faster, Stronger... maybe next year.

Frisbee

Today the red group met in the field house and worked on our frisbee skills. I was quite a bit rustier than I thought I would be, but after just having time to throw back and forth with a partner, muscle memory returned and my throws were relatively accurate (except for the one that beaned my professor in the head(Sorry, Leanne!). After our hour-long lunch break, we played a few games of Ultimate Frisbee and then headed outside for some Frisbee Golf. THAT was hilarious. The wind was blowing fairly hard (like it usually does), so unless you were heading towards an eastward target, you took at least 4 throws to get there, and that was without the frisbee falling into the baseball field and the roped off area (...not that that happened to OUR group...).

Again, another skill I need to work on. Actually, my catching is pretty secure, and my throwing isn't terrible (although both my forehand and backhand throws need work), but it's the throwing-to-a-running-partner-without-them-changing-speed challenge that will need the most practice. I wonder how that will be graded? I suppose as long as the person you're throwing to doesn't lunge forward after the frisbee it should be okay, or at least you would think.

Our intense game of Ultimate Frisbee.

All you ever wanted to know about Frisbee:

http://www.frisbeedisc.com/

Mountain Biking and Archery

Today the red group headed out to Dr. Mathias' house for a taste of some off-road mountain biking and some education in the sport of archery.

We started with biking, which was fun, as well as completely exhausting. Obviously there are some training sessions that need to happen before the skills test because all of us need the endurance training. It makes me wish that I could run out and actually buy an appropriate bike for this ride, or really maybe I'd just like a bike that actually stops when I push on the brakes. I suppose as long as we don't need to stop and rest on the way down it shouldn't be too bad, right?

We took our lunch break and then headed down to the targets to work on some archery. It was definitely a fun experience; I've done archery one or two times through camps growing up, but it's been over 5 years since I've touched a bow, so needless to say my accuracy was a bit off. The whole experience was fun, but I will say that it irritates me when I can't read people, and this was one of those days. People that are hard to read make me feel uncomfortable when around them, because you're never quite sure whether they're enjoying being with others, or whether they're just irritated, which often seems to be the vibe I pick up.

http://archeryintheschools.org/activea.asp

Rockclimbing and In-Line Skating

Now TODAY was fun! I've never seriously rockclimbed before, and have never attempted it outdoors, so this afternoon was really my first experience doing any sort of challenging climbing. And it was a lot of fun... and tiring, for sure! We were able to work both individually and in partners, creating our own routes and following those that were designed by the wall creators and installers. I've seen these at the schools around Ellensburg, but since I hadn't really experienced them before, it was never really something that I "Ooo'ed" and "Awe'ed" over. Now I can see why it's something that is a great alternative activity for the P.E. class, both physically and mentally.

After rockclimbing, we had lunch and then traded spots with the grey group and headed downstairs for in-line skating. Um... it's been about 4 years since I've slipped on a pair of skates, and my performance today showed! I was a little uncomfortable with having class outside on the tennis courts; yes, it was nice, but embarrassing myself in front of every student that was either walking to class or heading home had front rows seats to my ridiculousless. Oh well. I will say that today was the first time EVER in a pair of skates that I was able to move backwards, even if with poor form. I'm hoping that with a little more practice, I'll be able to move more comfortably on the skates and not fall so much!

Circus Arts

Yesterday, aside from beginning our blogs, we also were introduced to the flower sticks. Last week, we were also introduced to the diabolo, and how to unicycle. MY excitement for the class certainly dimished slightly that day! After having some time to practice for a bit, I'm more hopeful, but this will definitely be a challenging class, as well as frustrating. Although, as explained the first day, that is exactly our what our profs have intended for us, and with that we must be content, or at least accepting.

All in all, the flower sticks weren't really bad; I remember dabbling with them in elementary school, but tricky nonetheless. But practice makes perfect, yes? Soon I'll have to start religiously checking out equipment to practice, because at this rate, there will be no A for me in that section of the class.

Movement 3: The Beginning

My first thought about this class after our first meeting and reading through the syllabus was, "Way fun!".

Then came the second day, were we were told that our grades would be based on our expertise in a number of activities that many of us hadn't tried since elementary school, or ever. I remember feeling frustrated, cheated, and confused; wasn't this something we had been taught NOT to base grades on? After some bickering, complaining, and explaining, things became more clear, but not in any way less daunting.

I suppose the fact that many of our classes this quarter require less outside work than the previous two, which makes the task of practicing outside of class slightly more manageable, if not just possible. Had this class been offered during any quarter other than this one, I have no doubt in my mind that I would not have passed. Not that I don't believe I can pass, but with all of the other assignments and outside work, I literally had little to no time for myself, let alone practice the diablo, flower sticks, unicycling, juggling, and the seven other tasks we must master in order to snag an A in one portion of our grade.


"When Health is absent, Widsom cannot reveal itself; Art cannot become manifest; Strength cannot be exerted; Wealth is useless; and Reason is powerless." - Herophilus, 300 B.C.