First Field Trip

Ian, Will, Maggie, and Brooklyn

Ian's first ever field trip was yesterday, and they chose to go to Whitmore Farms, outside Jasper. We were grouped with a very fair kid/parent ratio (Ian and I was paired with some very familiar faces, Tasha and Maggie, and a very sweet new face, Brooklyn), split into two groups as a whole, and started out exploring the neat farm. Our group, which was about 20 kids and 10-12 adults, started the morning on a very HUGE inflatable slide, which all the children, with the exception of a couple, loved almost as much as the parents wanted to. From there, we climbed our way across to another inflatable, yet smaller obstacle course/slide. Every child had a new and better way to jump, flip, and slide down the other side. It was so fun to watch some of the shy kids come out of their shell at this point. Next, we bounced our way over to the last inflatable, the moon walk. Since this had to be done in smaller groups of about 5, some of the kids who had already taken their first turn, used the wait time to have their faces painted by a member of the farm staff. They had a choice of spider, ghost, or pumpkin, and of course Ian chose the spider. (A small word of advice for anyone that will ever attempt to do face-painting: make sure you include all eight legs if you paint a spider. Children who are learning about new things will definitely pick up on the mistake of only using six legs.) Afterwards, the kids had a picnic lunch that was provided by the school lunchroom. Concessions were provided for the chaperones. Our group then set off for petting the farm animals. While they didn't get to touch every single animal there, they did their fair share. They saw a baby pig, dove, two rabbits, blue chicken, pony, pygmy goat, miniature horse, turkey, and of course, the farm dogs. After getting a generous amount of Germ-X, we went into the barn for scarecrow building, and hay jumping. It was then time for a quick trip to the farm's pond, where each kid was given the job of watching their very own bobber at the end of their cane pole. No fish, though. Next, we hitched a ride on a huge trailer filled with hay, pulled by a tractor. The hay ride took us all across the farm to a pumpkin patch, which was no more than a bunch of picked pumpkins spread out on a fresh-cut hay field, but the kids still had fun hand-picking their very own pumpkin to take home. They had a quick snack, loaded all the kids and their pumpkins, and headed back to the school. We really had a good time. First field trip: a success.

Ian on the giant slide. If you look close, you can see the top of the barn roof behind the slide. That's how tall this thing was.

Ian sliding down giant slide.

Doing tricks on obstacle course slide.

Ian would not touch blue chicken.

Ian, Maggie, and Brooklyn petting donkey.

Jumping into large bales of hay.

Ian and Brooklyn

Tasha, Maggie, Brooklyn, Holly, and Ian enjoying the hay ride. Camera was a little shaky.

 

Luke and Ian bringing home their prized pumpkins.

The rare six-legged spider from Whitmore Farms, found in it's natural habitat: children's faces.