What a beautiful day we had for the Photo Safari Hunt!  There were 15 youth and 19 adult supporters who participated in the Photos Safari Hunt at Elk Grove Park on October 8, 2011.  The sun was shinning, the light was perfect and the youth had a fantastic time trying to find all the items listed on their Safari Hunt in the park.  Each youth and mentor pair was given an assignment to find items in the park and take a digital picture of the items listed, the group was given a mini lesson on how to use the digital camera including how to use the close up and light settings for the camera.  It was amazing to see 15 youth and their mentors sit down and have lunch together family style.  Connections tried something new this time and brought out a small bbq and made hotdogs to complement the you’re your own Sandwich Buffet and amazing fruit selection.

I keep trying to get youth to attend the Ballet so I tried again.  We were donated 10 tickets to the Sacramento Ballet’s Student performance of Dracula on October 22, 2011.  We had 12 youth sign up for tickets but only 2 youth and 2 adults attended the performance.  Unfortunately, we were working against a beautiful day filled with sun and good weather.  I hope to have better luck with attendance next time.  The youth who attended had both been to the ballet on prior occasions and they truly enjoyed the performance.  The costumes were amazing and it was wonderful to see so many high school students attending the ballet.

We had another successful event partnering with The Children’s Receiving Home and The Sacramento Sierra Club Inner City Outings at Effie Yeaw Nature Center on October 23, 2011.  The youth got to experience Nature Fest, a fun filled day “where kids learn about reptiles, birds, bees, local salmon, the forests, rivers and come face to face with a Mountain Lion and Lynx all in one day”.  The day was filled with bats, bugs, snakes, and art activities for the 9 children from CRH who attended the event.  As usual the favorite part of the event was lunch outside on the picnic tables with each other.  After all the walking and seeing exhibits the the youth ages 4-10 were exhausted and ready for a mid afternoon nap.