Field Trips.

This has been one crazy week for field trips in our little family. Monday brought Kennedy's trip to Camp Manitou-Lin, a local YMCA camp. This trip was a reward for the school having reached their reading goal for March (reading month). The morning started out with a bus ride out to the camp, which was situated on a beautifully clear lake. Our group started out at the climbing wall. Kennedy had never attempted a climbing wall, and she was nervous and initially stated that she wasn't going to try it. However, she then decided to give it a try and, hesitantly, she allowed the guide to strap her up. Kennedy is all gung-ho for most academic challenges, but a bit more hesitant for physical challenges. I was so proud of her for trying and for getting a few steps up before she decided that was enough for her first wall climb. I reiterated to her how important it is to take risks in the safety of an encouraing environment, and to try new experiences. As you can see from the look on her face, it was a bit scary for her, but the important thing was that she tried it and gained the new experience. It reminded me of the importance of stepping outside my comfort zone in my own life.

After the wall came several team-building games, including blob tag, a blindfold game, and a jump-rope activity. It was fun to see the kids work together to problem-solve and reach a goal through cooperation. After a brief visit to see some farm animals, we were treated with several games of Capture the Fish, which is basically a version of capture-the-flag. Again, the kids were expected to work together to find the other team's hidden fish, while avoiding being caught by the other team and sent to "jail." Oh boy, did this bring up memories of many a game of Capture the Flag played in my own growing-up years! After a sack lunch, we played by the lake and did an ABC scavenger hunt before heading back to the bus for the ride home. It was a fun but exhausting day, evidenced by the sleeping little girl that I had slumped over onto my shoulder a mere 10 minutes into the ride. I must admit that I took a 10-minute snooze upon our return home, too, after all that fresh air and exercise and fun.

Today brought Hayden's turn with a class trip to one of our very favorites, the Critter Barn. The Critter Barn is an animal-lover's dream field trip because it is very interactive and hands-on. Hayden almost didn't get to participate because he has been running a fever for the past few days, but he woke up without a fever so we decided to try it. The kids were so excited to see and hold the animals, many of which were babies born within the past few weeks of spring. Hayden got many fun experiences including: Holding baby chicks and ducks, feeding a baby goat with a bottle, milking a Momma goat, holding a baby kitten, petting new baby bunnies, finding an egg in the chicken coop, brushing a horse, and meeting lots of new furry friends including a 26-year-old pot-bellied pig and a set of trick-performing black labs. The day took a lot out of both of us, but it was so fun. Hayden especially wished that we could take the little black kitten home, but......we went home with a hen feather and a pocket of rocks instead. Whew.

The first photo of Hayden holding the baby duck below is altered with Picasa2, which is a free photo editing software you can download. I have been experimenting with the different features and this is the black-and-white with spot-color. Perfect for this photo, I think.

Tomorrow brings my last day of teaching for the week, kindergarten round-up, and my little sister visiting for a couple of days. We will also have my baby niece tomorrow night so it should be lots of fun and some good photos ops. I'm off to sample the Rachael Ray potato-corn choup that I made for dinner....smells very yummy!