Hooray for Spring Break!

Amber, Staysia, Matthew and Joshua became friends right away!

Spring Break for the Aliamanu BGCH meant tons of field trips all over the island for five days straight!! Our meeting place was at the Salt Lake District Park this time around, which was great because there was plenty of space for the kids to play and have fun before we left for each adventure.

As children arrived at Salt Lake District Park, they were introduced to their group leaders and played name games and ice breakers to get to know each other and feel more comfortable. Miss Hali, with the youngest group, created a game where each child was given a name of a Disney character. A few of the names stuck, and Miss Hali was called "Miss Rajah," Taylor was called "Tink," and Ciyanna was called "Mushu" pretty much all week!

Brandon S. and Gordon (above) and Skyler and Ocean (below) showed me their tickets with the stencils that they found from each station.

Our first day of break was our furthest adventure, and we traveled up to Wahiawa and Haleiwa for the day. The youth were eager to explore the Dole Plantation. Their navigational skills were tested in the World's Largest Garden Maze. Children were given tickets with 8 different spots where they would stencil a design found at 8 hidden stations throughout the maze. Some children raced through the maze to find the stations, while others seemed to enjoy exploring and surprising their friends around each corner. As I walked around taking photos, at one point I got lost! I walked in circles for a few minutes before I thought to myself "I could swear I've seen this bush before!" Gabby and Shantae came to my rescue and helped me find the central part of the maze.Corina and Leslie Ann made their way through the maze, and Kyler, Brandon P., Taylor and Caden stuck together to find each of the stations!

Then I went to wait at the exit of the maze to see who would complete it first. Brandon B. and Arnold were the winners! As kids waited for the rest of the group to finish, they explored the gift shop and the pineapple garden. After all of the kids finished the maze, we boarded the bus to head to the beach. Everyone was really excited because it was so hot out, they all couldn't wait to cool off!

Our winners, Arnold and Brandon B!

The original plan was to swim at Waimea Bay, but with surf forecasts predicting 10 foot shorebreak, we changed plans and headed to Haleiwa Ali'i Beach Park instead. The waves were still pretty strong there, but they were much smaller. Everyone, staff included, had a great time jumping and diving through the waves. The older kids helped keep an eye on the little ones, who were quite fearless as they swam in the waves. Others constructed walls and towers on the beach and buried each other in the sand. Everyone had a chance to play with the waterproof cameras and snapped photographs and video recorded all of the action in the water. The time flew by and soon enough we were boarding the bus again to head back to Salt Lake. What an exciting way to kick start the program! To check out the complete photo album, click here!

Bradley and Jonathan hanging out at Haleiwa Ali'i Beach Park!

Zeren kept a close eye on Taylor (or "Tink") while playing in the water!

Jamal and Brandon P. had fun burying themselves in the sand!