CHV Takes Over AABH

     On Tuesday I went to Peddocks island with the All Access Boston Harbor crew. It was fun to be back on All access for the day. It was also good that it was at Peddocks, which can be debated to be the best island we go to. When we first got to the island we had lunch on the nice chairs near the beach. Then we gathered some kids in order to play kickball. I was making my debut after my self-proclaimed Rookie of the Year season last year. 

     The game started off very hype, with friendly trash talking going on by both sides. I was on the opposite team as David Coffin. In my first at bat I hit a 3 run home run to give my team a 6-0 lead. The game went on for a few more innings before it was last ups for David Coffin's team, who were down 8-4. His team was able to load the bases with 2 outs and a camp counselor was up to bat. There was late inning drama and it made the game fun for us and, most importantly, the kids. The camp counselor proceeded to hit the ball hard and high but we were able to make the catch and secure the win. We then took all the kids and broke it down screaming "Save The Harbor" on 3. There were smiles on all kids faces whether they won or lost. As for David Coffin and Max they were just simply on the wrong team. Then we went to the freezing beach and cooled off from the blazing sun.

Sincerely,

Ivaniel Diaz

David the Goliath

Yesterday was my first time visiting Peddock's Island, one of the Boston Harbor islands in the rotation of the "All Access" team here at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. I had heard that All Access was fun, but I was unprepared for just how fun. After arriving on the island we immediately began a game of kickball, the holy grail of ll recess activities; my inner child was torn out of me, arriving with a hunger that could only be quenched by home-runs. Sadly my team and I were defeated 8-4 with the last four runs of the opponents runs coming in the last inning!

Only one thing could have washed away that heavy stench of defeat and that is the crashing of waves from the Atlantic Ocean; in other words, we went swimming. It was there on the beach that I encountered the infamous David Coffin, known for his expertise in the involuntary depositions of unsuspecting victims into the water. But today, he would no longer be considered a threat to the kind townspeople of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay as on this day the mighty David was smitten, and at the hands of his own craft no less. After years of tormenting the poor village, the warriors were finally able to band together and cast the hardy beast into the ocean. And the village lived happy ever after..

Sincerely,

Maxwilliams Iwuala

Who Am I?

Macqueripe Beach 

Hello everybody! It's been a while! My name is Ruth Scott and I'm a rising junior at Boston Trinity Academy.This is my second exciting year at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and it's off to a great start! I am 16 years old and live in Dorchester with my siblings and parents. I am a competitive swimmer for Dolphin Swim Club and the Flaherty Dolphins and I also dabble in varsity soccer. Marine biology has always been an interest of mine with all of the contact I have with water and such so it's great to be back out on the harbor this year gaining more knowledge about my home, Boston. I also got the chance during February break to see some marine animals in the Caribbean. Since my mother is from Trinidad we traveled down to enjoy some sun and get away from Boston's brutal winter. I had a great time hanging out with the animals of the sea and enjoying the warm water. (It is really unbelievable how warm the water is in Trinidad, it's bathing temperature!) If anyone wants to take a trip to the Caribbean, I recommend Trinidad and Tobago. It's a beautiful island paradise with so many cultures mixing together.

Squantum, Quincy (2015)

            We started off the summer with an orientation trip to George's Island (one of my favorites!) It was great to return and see some of my old haunts. Including the infamous David Coffin, I did not go flying at this meeting although it did cross his mind. The parade ground was completely goose free which was mind blowing, that field ALWAYS has geese. We also saw some new passages that I wasn't able to explore last year. Orientation went so well that there are no doubts in how this summer will turn out: FANTASTIC!
           I cannot wait to get to my site and start all the fun. The kids of Boston and the surrounding areas will not know what hit them! Save the Harbor/Save the Bay 2k15 will be AMAZING!
Super excited,
Ruth Scott

the Parade Ground at George's Island, FREE of goose poop!

The Pains and Gains of Kickball

Public Service Announcement: When you chose to engage in kickball with David Coffin please make sure you are wearing proper attire. This includes helmet, mouth guard, knee pads and elbow pads.

Thank you

Hello all,

Respect the Kickball
Take it seriously

Today was interesting to say the least. Naturally with Spectacle Island comes kickball. Apparently with kickball comes David Coffin and with David Coffin comes a tide of unintentional airborne girls and boys, mainly myself. I recommend that if you are not Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali or Achilles you should not try to stop David. He has the hilarious affect of sending me and a couple other Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff flying in his wake. The effect can be best described as bowling pins. I wasn't expecting to fly that day but nevertheless it was nice to levitate for a few seconds. It's not everyday you get to feel weightless. Although I'd prefer zero gravity to being thrown, it's still a good way to feel as though you weigh literally nothing. The landing is not as pleasant but what can you do but roll over, laugh and get up again. Even though today's experience was not kept to Earth, it was just as grounded in Save the Harbor/Save the Bay rules as the trees on Spectacle Island. It was cloudy today but that didn't stop me from swimming. Even though Spectacle Island has a fantastic beach that I would recommend to the president it was not as as pleasant without any sun to warm you up. I've never known water to burn but as of today I have experience. I should probably extend my public service announcement to include ideal swimming conditions. Although I didn't stay on Earth for a little today and have felt the true feeling of numb toes, I still recommend Spectacle Island as one of my favorite harbor islands. Though I might just take up fishing, I think it has a higher rate of keeping all participates on the ground.

Swimming Anyone?

Be careful and stay safe,

Ruth Scott

3rd Annual Kids' Beach Bash and Splash EXCITEMENT

Happy Monday Harbor Explorers!  In my last blog post I mentioned that Thursday there was no All Access trip -- normally this would be sad, but instead of journeying to Spectacle Island the entire Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff convened on M Street Beach in South Boston for the always-exciting KIDS' BEACH BASH AND SPLASH!

The calm before the storm

 By the end of the day, over 700 children and counselors from the Greater Boston area had made it to the BCYF Curley Center for face painting, fishing, swimming and a hot dog lunch.  I was on the welcome committee out front, checking people in and helping groups  that might have gotten a little lost on the way to the beach.  It was really cool to so many groups that have come out on All Access back again for the Bash, and I know the kids all had an amazing time.

Braintree After School Enrichment lining up to splash into M Street Beach

Before rushing into the cool water and making an enormous splash, David Coffin led all the children and staffers in a rousing rendition of "Haul Away Joe" (even though his voice was a little off) and Will Clark joined in with his famous Save the Harbor rap -- I'm sure all the kids were singing it on the bus rides home.

Fresh Prince of Boston Harbor Will Clark on the mic

Another great thing about the Bash is that all of the Save the Harbor staff come together to make this event a success -- the office staff, interns, Senior Marine Educators and the high school summer staff.  With so many sites around Boston, it can be hectic with kids running from one program to another.  I'm always glad that we have one day during the summer to have a big party for ourselves and the children that we serve around Boston, and this year was no exception!  I'm so happy I got to work with these crazy kids!

Lookin' good

-- Carolyn

 

 

Sea Glass Hunting on Spectacle

Another week has come and gone on the Harbor, and the All Access crew made the trip to Spectacle for the last time this season -- though there are still two weeks of trips to Georges and Peddocks Islands before we officially wrap up the summer!  The weather on Wednesday was perfect for a day at Spectacle Island's beach but we did have to deal with choppy water and lots of waves!

Great view of Boston from the beach

Waves aside, the groups that came out with us had a great time playing wiffleball and looking for sea glass.  I stuck to the beach and found some great pieces of glass.  This is the first year that I've found so much pink and purple glass on the beach.  Finding all these great pieces gave me the chance to use my new sea glass identification cards to learn more about the glass:  when certain colors were produced, what they were mostly used for and how rare a given color is.  Both pink and purple are rare; light pink's peak production period was during the Great Depression through World War II, while purple's peak production was between the end of the 1800s to World War I.  For those intrepid sea glass hunters out there, the most rare colors you can find are orange and red!

One of my sea glass finds!

 Paige Academy was probably the first group to jump in the water at the beach, and after I had found as many pieces of sea glass as my heart desired, I joined them in the waves.  Paige Academy comes out with us a few times every summer, and their children are so much fun to have around!  It's been a blast getting to know them and their counselors over the past summers I've worked with Save the Harbor.  This year has been no exception -- the kids were great and everyone had a good time jumping waves and splashing David Coffin and Thi silly.

Some hula hooping fun after swimming

Last week's All Access trips were fairly light -- Tuesday's trip was cancelled due to rain and Thursday was the Kids' Beach Bash and Splash.  I mentioned earlier that there are still two weeks of trips to Georges and Peddocks Islands.  This is very exciting because we've added an extra week of trips, and to a completely new location!  Peddocks Island has old-fashioned summer cottages, fishing off the dock and walking/hiking trails and lots more to explore.

I, unfortunately, will not be able to go on the last few All Access trips because I have to leave for school this coming week.  So this was my last All Access trip -- so sad!  But keep your eyes peeled for my blog posts on the Bash and Splash, as well as my farewell post later on this week!

Until then,

--  Carolyn

Beach Bash

Hey Everyone,

What a day we had on Thursday at the Curly Community Center in South Boston as Save the Harbor/Save the Bay held their annual Beach Bash and Splash. There were more than 700 hundred kids from the surrounding youth programs who came for one big summer celebration. The activities included; : fishing, a touch tank with crabs, lobsters, and other marine life,  sports and frisbees, a big fish drawing for the kids to put their name on, face painting, and of course swimming.

As the Beach Bash started I was in charge of running the sports events for the day.  I also made sure each group left with a bunch of STH/STB frisbees.  When it was close to 10 o'clock, the kids began to arrive in bunches. Group after Group arriving meant it was time for the games to begin.

We started off with a gigantic game of wiffle ball. We had kids playing from all the various groups who attended.  Even the staff members from each group joined in the game.

Here is Andy throwing his best pitch

 As the day progressed so did the number of kids who came to join in on our game.

After playing wiffle ball the kids were ready for kickball.   What a game we had going. The kids were diving after balls, sliding into to bases.   For a minute there I thought I was watching the world series of kickball.  I must say the runs sure did pile up in this game. We were way into double figures.   One team even surpassed 20 runs.

After a great game of kickball, we decided to squeeze in one more quick game of wiffle ball before lunch.  Right before lunch we had all the groups gather in front of the STH/STB banner to hear the one and only Will Clark sing the STH/STB Rap.

Along side David Coffin and Bruce Berman Will Clark sings the STH/STB Rap

Now it was time for the annual group swim which could only be lead by one person who was David Coffin.

 Kids running out of the water after the annual group swim

Then once everyone went for a dip in the water it was time for chaos to in sue.

When I say chaos I mean lunch. Just imagine 100s of hungry kids swarming at you at all at once that is one image that is etched in my memory.  After all the hot dogs were consumed and you could finally see the ocean instead of a line with 100s of kids.

Soon  it was time to begin the cleanup. After making sure the beach was cleaner than when we arrived, the groups began to pack up and our fun-filled event was complete.

Thanks to all the awesome staff we who made this event the best Beach Bash ever!
Adios,
Davis

Staff Day, Barbeque and Hula Hoops OH MY

Hello Harbor Explorers!  This week has been fantastic and jam-packed:  Monday was staff day, then Tuesday and Wednesday I got to explore Georges Island with tons of kids and to wrap up the week, I have tomorrow off!

The week started off with Staff Day, which includes an annual trip to Spectacle Island for some fun in the sun and lunch on Bruce and Patty's boat.  While some staffers headed up to the fields to play (what I heard was) an intense game of kickball, I stayed right on the beach.  A nice swim followed by a ranger-led kayaking excursion with Thi, Sarah, Iris and Jennifer was lots of fun, especially since it was the first time I had gone kayaking this year!  Thi and I got a little competitive but I proved myself the fastest kayaker this side of the Charles River by the end of the day.

Me, Thi and Vinh enjoying the waves

Tuesday and Wednesday I was on Georges Island with All Access.  We had an exceptionally great week -- we took out over 700 kids between the two days!  I also got to see something unusual on Tuesday:  leader extraordinaire David Coffin invoked his barbeque rule while we were out on the island.  According to David, if he can smell barbeque, he can have some barbeque.  While I had never heard of this rule before, the other visitors to the island must have been familiar with it, since they gladly offered him his choice of what was grilling.  David even manned the grill for a little while, but was removed from duty for bad behavior.

David made some friends!

Wednesday we were lucky enough to have the 2013 summer interns for Blue Cross Blue Shield join us on Georges for their day of service.  They helped clean up trash from the beach and trails around the island -- a big thank you to all the kids for their hard work, especially the Save the Harbor staffers that are from Blue Cross!

Hard at work...or hardly working

All in all, a great week out on the harbor islands, and a long weekend for me to enjoy!  Next week the whole staff will be gearing up for our 3rd annual Beach Bash and Splash on Thursday, so more cool pictures and stories to come!

-- Carolyn

Summer Reunion

Hi Everyone,

Some of the All Access Staff taking a group photo with BASE.

This easily was the best day I have had so far this summer working at Save the Harbor.  When the groups arrived at the Bank of American Pavilion there was one group that I was anxious to see.  This particular group was the Braintree After School Enrichment program (BASE) because I knew that some of the students that I taught this past year were in this program.  When I went to listen to David Coffin's introduction speech about George's Island to all the groups I suddenly hear It's Coach Sullivan!  It's our Gym Teacher!  After hearing that I looked at the BASE group to notice seven to eight of my awesome students from St. Francis in Braintree.

Here Is Damien and the rest of our Ultimate Frisbee team.

Now off to George's Island for another fun filled day of fishing, crabbing, touring of Fort Warren, and of course Frisbees!  Today's adventure lead me to an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee with the BASE program.  My team was lead by one of my students a second grader named Damien.
This game was a chess match to say the least.  The most important part was how much fun the kids were having.


After a fun game of Ultimate Frisbee, we still had a few minutes before we had to return to the dock. During this time I was able to catch up with some of my students which was my highlight of my day.

Thats all for now!

Adios,

Davis

Hey! Who turned on the heat?

Well if there has to be a heat wave let it be the week we go to Spectacle Island, thank you very much. Before we left for the island this morning we met with all the kids under the Bank of America Pavilion tent and I asked how many people thought the harbor was really dirty? About 150 kids and staff raised their hand. After I told the story about the clean up of the harbor I asked the question again and about 5 people raised their hand. Everyone agreed they were going swimming today. How could you not -- it's 145 degrees. Okay. I might be exaggerating a little. I do that sometimes but it was wicked hot. How hot was it? It was so hot Thi fell out of her shoes.

The aforementioned Miss Tran AKA Thi Money

On the boat ride out to the island we handed out two cases of plums which were juicy and delicious. One girl looked like she needed something to do on the boat so I sent her off to count all the doors on the boat. There were 25. She got the answer right so she got to drive the boat for a few minutes. Fortunately she didn't hit any islands.

Once everyone had lunch and brought their trash back to the boat so the bay-gulls wouldn't get it, groups went off in different directions. Some went to play kickball or frisbeach with Davis the master frisbee man. Other groups went straight to the beach to swim. And one group came with me to look for the treasures of Spectacle Island.

We found some amazing beach glass (yes we put it all back) on the non-swimming beach. We found a light green knob off the top of a glass tureen which was absolutely stunning. I've never seen that color beach glass before. But the sun made a lot of the glass too hot to handle so the simple solution was to head over to the swimming beach and toss ourselves into the drink. No argument there. 

David Coffin

PS:  Happy birthday Carolyn!

PPS:  Bridget is hilarious, and I'm sorry I splashed her on Thursday.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The final day of the first week of All Access Boston Harbor which was a week that was fun filled. Activities ranged  from wiffle ball to crabbing to soccer to fishing to the tours of the tunnel all the way to an awesome game of kickball.  As the day started off mother nature wasn't looking to promising. The rain came pouring down as the groups of children arrived at the Bank Of America Pavilion to depart for George's Island. By the time we arrived at George's Island the rain had stop. Now it was time to enjoy the afternoon.

Upon arrival at George's Island I was stopped by a few children who were doing a scavenger hunt. I had a bruins jacket on and one of the items on their list to find was to get a picture with someone who was wearing a bruins jacket. So I helped them out but taking a picture with them. 

Here I am taking a picture for a group of children who were having a scavenger hunt.

Here one of the children from Paige Academy kicking a line drive back at David Coffin

Now the off to the ball game. Once Paige Academy was finished with their tour of Fort Warren they gathered with us to play a game of kickball. We quickly picked teams so we could start our game of kickball. This kickball game had everything from diving catches, to home runs, to jump catches, to sliding into base, to plays at the home plate. This game was very high scoring. No lead was safe. After all the fun and dust had been cleared we ended up finishing in a tie at fifteen runs a piece. The best part of the game was being able to interact with the children from Paige Academy. They were a great group of children who enjoy having fun! That was just what we did! 

Here I am kicking a line drive in to center field for a double.

Can't wait for next week as the All Access Boston Harbor crew make a stop at Spectacle Island! Also the beginning for Frisbeach! 

First Day on George's Island

That's Sir Isaac the German Shepherd chillin' down the street from my house in Gloucester. We walk this route almost every day because it's on the ocean. The ocean is pretty much where you'll find me any given day between April and October so naturally I'm looking forward to our first day on All Access Boston Harbor 2013. Our first week will be spent exploring Georges Island and the Civil War era Fort Warren. With lots of dark places it's very easy to get scared and I can't bring Isaac with me so I hope Thi and Carolyn will help protect me from all the kids who constantly try to jump out and scare me to death. They hide in the dark tunnel and make some evil looking red eye kind of thing to scare me but I know it's the kids just trying to frighten me so I try not to scream. Lat year Thi screamed so loud her shoe came off. Don't think she ever found it. Davis is one of our new Senior Frisbee guys and I'm really looking forward to learning how to throw a Frisbee forehand. But I'm also anxious to challenge anybody to a rock skipping contest. Oh yeah. We're talking championship rock skipper here. Come on out and take me on. Dude!!

Spectacle Island: A Park For All Seasons

Hello friends, Mike Murowchick here again! As Save the Harbor's photographer and videographer, it was my pleasure to be able to attend our free fall cruise to Spectacle Island on Saturday, October 27.

Once the tide started to recede in the afternoon, visitors took to the beach in search of Spectacle's wonderful assortment of historic artifacts. Among the group of treasure hunters was our very own David Coffin, a maritime historian who works with the Save the Harbor summer programs. He is a frequent visitor to Spectacle and loves to dive right into the water - even in late October when the waters are frigid!

 

Bruce Berman, Save the Harbor's Director of Communications, and I interviewed David after his dip into the chilly waters off Spectacle. While he loves to uncover rare artifacts on the beach, he takes even greater joy in interacting with kids and trying to see if they can identify artifacts that have been on the island decades before they were even born. Unfortunately, while Spectacle Island is "right in their backyard," many of the kids do not get a chance to visit Harbor Islands as frequently as the should, or even at all, and David believes it would greatly benefit the kids if the islands were more accessible year round.

This is part 2 of a four-part interview series aimed at capturing the many faces and stories of Spectacle Island. Part 1 can be found here. 

Here is the interview:

More great pictures from today can be found on our photobucket site.

Mike Murowchick
Policy Intern / Photographer / Videographer
Save the Harbor / Save the Bay

Beach Bash 2012!

Save the Harbor's second annual Beach Bash was last Friday at M Street Beach -- over 600 children from across Boston came to South Boston to have a day of sports, sand, and swimming!  We had a beautiful day, and some great entertainment!

After a jam-packed morning of playing on the beach the kids got to here some great songs from our very own David "D-Money" Coffin and Will "Big Willy" Clark.  Kids and counselors alike sang and clapped along to the old-fashioned sea shanties and raps.  Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy, also had a few words for the kids about how much Save the Harbor has done to clean up the harbor and beaches.  At noon, everyone "splashed" into the water at once -- over 700 Save the Harbor staff and youth groups!!

I was on hot dog duty, so after the splash I was overwhelmed with children and counselors looking to grab a hot dog, cold drink, and some fruit after a morning spent running around the beach.  Not to toot my own horn, but I made some mean hot dogs...and lots of them.

Having so many kids on the beach at the same time is definitely overwhelming, but in a good way.  It was especially nice that so many of the groups had come out on All Access at least once this summer, so I saw lots of familiar faces -- I even took the bus down to M Street beach with Paige Academy, one of the our favorite groups at All Access!

Spending the day at the beach made for a great Friday, and a great end to most of our summer programing.  And I fully expect the third annual Beach Bash to be even more amazing than this one!

-- Carolyn

PS:  Another one of my favorite pictures from the Bash!

Hello adventure seekers,

Last week was the last week of summer programs for STH/STB, but I still had time for one more trip to Spectacle Island to end my summer on a good note. The weather could not have been more perfect for some kayaking, kite flying, sea glass hunting, and swimming!


After stopping at Piers Park to pick up some intrepid sailors looking to explore the Harbor Islands, Vinh, David, David's daughter, and I spent a very productive afternoon combing the beach for sea glass. It was a little bittersweet since this was the last time I was going to be on the beach before heading back to school, and I was lucky enough to find some really unusual colors and shapes; I even found a marble! The rest of the afternoon was devoted to cooling off in the water before waving good-bye to the island one last time.

Since the 2011 season of All Access is officially over, I'd like to take the time to thank the people who make it so much fun, starting with the groups that come out with us. Kids, you ROCK! Your enthusiasm inspires me, and keeps every day interesting. Counselors, you do a great job helping the day run smoothly and it's great to see you all have the time of your lives on the islands as well.

To David Coffin, All Access leader extraordinaire; to Michelle and Brianne, schedulers and crisis avoiders; and to Bruce and Patty, Save the Harbor's fearless leaders: thank you for making this program what it is, for allowing so many children from Boston to experience the wonders of the sea, and for allowing me to be a part of it.

And last but certainly not least, to my coworkers from the past weeks, thank you for taking charge, making children laugh, and keeping me sane. I am so glad I got to meet you this summer, and I hope to see you again in the near future!


Until next time,

~Carolyn

Beach Party

On Friday at M street Beach Save the Harbor Hosted 450 kids from all over the Greater Boston Area. The day was a blast with everything from sand castle making to kite flying. I worked in the sports category playing soccer, jackpot, and catch. Their was never a lack of excitement or something to do. Eventually I was sent over to help out with fishing because everyone wanted to get a chance to catch a monster. Then David had yet another great speech before everyone jumped into the water at the same time which was quite a site. Then came lunch where we had hot dogs, cheese, and some vegetables with dip. The whole beach was covered with kids eating hot dogs, swimming, and having just a great time. After lunch things began to cool down because everyone was so full from lunch, but not for the staff, we were busy maintaining the workshops and cleaning the beach. When the day ended everyone one left tired and in a great mood after having such a great time. Can't wait until next time.

Sincerely,
Tim Grogan

A Day on Georges Island

Today was my first day back on AABH! Our trip today was to George's island. The boat ride there was fun because I got a chance to interact with some of the kids and get to know them and listen to the stories of the kids who have already been there.We got to take a walk around the fort, then Will and I decided to go and wait in the dark tunnel for the kids to come through. Our mission was to scare David but it was unsuccessful. Then my senoir marine educator sheuli and I took a group down to the beach and talked about all the cool things we found. I'm positive all the kids had a fun day which is the most important thing and I can also say I enjoyed my day. It's nice to be back!

-Mark Rose

Success At Georges!

Hey guys!

After another tiring but fun day with All Access at Georges Island, I am proud to report that our third crab count day of the summer went great! Conor and I spent about an hour this afternoon looking for crabs on the beach, with help from many enthusiastic visitors of course.

Today we decided to try something a little different. In the past the sample area was always right on the edge of the water; today, we set up our 60 feet long and 10 feet wide crab zone at the top of the beach, closer to where the sand ended. This certainly seems to have paid off. We caught 6 good-sized crabs and found many more baby ones that we thought were too small to count. Two of the crabs were female: one was 1 centimeter wide and the other was 2 centimeters. The four other remaining crabs were all male, measuring 1/2 centimeter, 2 1/2 centimeters, and 2 centimeters wide-two of the male crabs were 2 centimeters wide.

As happy as I am that I found a bunch of crabs today, I'm just as happy that so many kids were involved in the process. As soon as I mentioned looking for crabs, a group of almost 10 kids jumped up and wanted to help me and Conor. One girl in particular sticks out in my mind-at the beginning of our crab hunt, she shrieked every time she saw one scuttling across the sand and flat-out refused to pick any up. Conor and I tried to explain to her that the crabs wouldn't hurt her if she just held them the right way (by pinching the back of their shell and their stomach with two fingers) but she didn't believe us. Still, we continued to encourage her to at least try to hold one, and just before we had to release the crabs, she picked one up!! Not only that, but she calmly walked to the water with Senor Smoothie (as she named it) and placed him back in the water.

So to sum up, today I was a good citizen scientist who collected a lot of data for the STH/STB crab count and I showed a little girl that sometimes things aren't as scary as they appear. Yay!

-Carolyn

Crabs and More Crabs!

Today on All Access we visited Warren Fort on the historical George's Island. The kids today seemed more energetic then usual and went right through the dark tunnel of the lady in black with ease. I was assigned to look after a group of 5 and 6 year olds, who were almost fearless when it came to the dark, wet passages of the fort. Before we got to the fort I organized a race between my kids. They ran with enthusiasm, and were still smiling even if they placed towards the end. Once at the entrance to the tunnel, the kids ran inside, but were restrained by their group councilors. After the bigger groups emptied from the tunnel, it was our turn. I was surprised when most of our kids went through the tunnel with no hesitation. After the tunnel, we took a stroll around the top of the fort, and back to the beach. Once at the beach kids began skipping stones in the water, but soon joined Conor Newman and I in a search for Asian Shore Crabs. ONce we had over turned dozens of rocks the kids had found hundreds, but some refused to hold the as they quivered in their hands. Once the kids got bored of the miniture crabs we went home, with a smile on every face!

-Tim Grogan

PICTURE COMING SOON

Sea Glass and Water Fights

Hi guys!

Last week was spent at Spectacle Island and it was as jam-packed as ever. I've been really lucky so far and every time I've gone out to the Harbor Islands the weather's been great (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the good weather stays for the next two weeks!)

On Tuesday, instead of going up to the top of North Drummlin to fly kites, I stayed at the beach with David. After lunch, he invited me to look for sea glass with him. Since I used to collect sea glass when I was younger and because it seemed like a good way to spend a hot afternoon, I took him up on his offer.

Never in my life have I seen so much sea glass. Growing up near the water, I've been privileged enough to spend all my summers at the beach looking for pretty glass and cool shells. But the sheer amount of sea glass on Spectacle Island surpasses anything else I've seen. White, clear, sky blue, aquamarine, sea foam green, even a ruby red: all these colors could be found just by walking along the water. An added surprise was all the bits of pottery that we found in the sand-this was something I'd never seen before, and I thought it was pretty cool.

As tempting as it was to fill my bag with delightful pieces of sea treasure, I fought the urge and kept in mind that by leaving the sea glass on Spectacle, thousands of people would have the chance to enjoy it as much as I did. After successfully managing not to steal from a national park, David and I met up with Thi and BJ for a quick swim before heading back to the Bank of America Pavilion-I think this picture speaks for itself.

Another fun activity from last week: one boat ride back to Boston, all us interns were feeling a little hot. So David, kind soul that he is, decided to stealthily sneak up behind us and pour a little water on our heads to cool us off. So obviously, we began to pour water on each other and within minutes a full-fledged water war was being waged between BJ and myself on the top deck and Thi and David on the lower deck. The final score? BJ and I: 100, Thi and David: 10.

-Carolyn