Field Trips

If you follow me on social media then you know I went out of town last weekend. But I can't blog about that until I get all the pictures from my friends. (Hint hint, Kanien!) So until then, we'll have to make due with all the other stuff that's gone on this week, like laundry and cleaning and visiting teaching and helping a friend with a project, and a school read-a-thon carnival.

And two field trips.

Yep! One of the best things about having all kids in school now is that I'm free to go on any field trip I want. Woo-hoo!

On Tuesday I joined Tess's class on the annual Kindergarten field trip to Wea Creek Orchard and then up to the Battlefield Monument. Tess was so excited about me coming, which was really sweet. She's my favorite daughter. Here's the obligatory bus selfie.

The weather was AMAZING. A little cool, but sunny and fall-like. Just perfect. At the orchard we got to ride in a wagon pulled by a tractor and see all the apple orchards, corn fields, pumpkin fields, and soybean fields. The kids were quite excited by a few of the huge white pumpkins growing.

We learned about bees and how they help around the farm and how they dance to give directions. Then we got to taste several of the different kinds of apples grown on the farm. (But not the Honey Crisp apples - those are the money apples.) My favorite was the Mollie's Delicious - so yummy. Then the kids got to pick two of their very own apples, which was very, VERY exciting.

Here's my little group. These kiddos were so cute and funny!

Here's the whole class, with their cute teacher Miss Lenhardt. She's such a great Kindergarten teacher! (I can't believe she'll be my family's last!) Getting a bunch of five year olds to hold still for a picture is about as hard as you could imagine.

Then we went up to the Battlefield Monument, where we had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. And took another class picture.

We went on a nature scavenger hunt, and then the kids ran around and played, climbing on stumps and generally making a ruckus. (But it was okay since we were outside - perfect field trip for these kids!)

While they were playing a big gust of wind came up and knocked a branch out of a tree. It wasn't huge, so when it hit some of the kids we didn't think anything of it. None claimed to be hurt. But wouldn't you know it, Joclyn (the little girl with the pink bow in my group) turned out to have a tiny scratch on her head. She claimed it didn't hurt, but she kinda freaked out a bit when she got blood on her hands. It was just a little bit, but still. Much tears and sadness. We got her cleaned up and all her friends gave her hugs and she was as good as new!

We then went on a nature hike with a fun guide; you could tell she really loved her job. You could tell the kids were wearing out, but they hung in there and behaved. For the most part.

Here's Tess petting an ex-groundhog. The nature guide had a bag full of ex-animals, which fascinated the kids!

We finally made it back to the school and I got to take Tess home about an hour early. She was quite thrilled with this!

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Today I got to go on a field trip I have been wanted to go on FOREVER: the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. It's this big festival held every year and we've just never been. It's usually on Conference weekend, and the few weekends it hasn't been on those dates it's been raining A LOT. Also, it's quite pricey to get in and then you have to pay to eat and there's lots of stuff to buy... you get the idea. Just not prime Madsen activity material.

But going with a bunch of 4th graders and only having to pay $5? Yes please.

Surprisingly, Josh was really excited to have me come. (We've been butting heads a lot lately. Sometimes it's hard to be the mom of a 4th grade boy. I'm sure it's even hard to actually be a 4th grade boy!)

As per usual, it was a rainy and dreary day. BECAUSE IT IS EVERY YEAR for the Feast. No, really. It's kind of a running joke at the school, only no one's laughing. Instead, they're telling the kids to take off their shoes when they get back to the school so they don't track mud everywhere. No, really.

So the feast celebrates and reenacts scenes of life from the 1700's in our area. Think a lot of French, British, and Native American traders and craftsmen. It was really pretty interesting and fun.

There was a cook fire at just about every tent - we came home smelling like fire. It was actually perfect and cozy for the weather! Here's Josh with Austin and River, who were in our group. Those two other boys gave me a run for my money!

Here's Kierstin and Josh in a wigwam. (Which was surprisingly water tight and warm!) Kierstin is in our ward and was also in our group. She and Josh agreed that the Feast kinda reminded them of Nauvoo. (And it was! In a historical reenactment sense.)

As mentioned, it was quite wet and muddy. I bought these boots at Costco last month and they were PERFECT! (And cute. Good purchase!)

It was fun to go around and talk to the "sutlers" (settlers) actors. You could tell they really enjoyed what they did and they had a lot of fun teaching the kids and showing them their crafts, muskets, etc.

You can't really tell from this picture, but the boys are all shaking hands with a bear pelt. They got a big kick out of it!

There were fifers around, too, which was fun to listen to.

Those muskets were heavy! The boys were disappointed they only shot blanks. Bummer.

These were some of our favorites - they are entertainers. They had puppets and this cool sea diorama and even played songs on the bells. We got lucky and got to spent quite a lot of one-on-one time with them.

This guy was quite the character. He held little patience for fools (i.e. silly 4th grade boys) and even swore once while quoting something his great grandfather used to say. (Nothing too terrible - just another word for pee.) The boys were a little stunned at first and then LOVED his man. I'm not really for swearing, but in this case it was perfect.

The kids were in love with the river. (The festival was right next to it.) It was all I could do to keep them away from the dang thing. After much lecturing and promise-extracting, we wandered along the edge for a bit at the end. Much to Austin and River's dismay, no one got wet.

We got back to the school around 1:45, and once again I was able to take a child home early. Josh was so excited! It was cute. So we decided to get a treat. Josh chose Gigi's Cupcakes. It was really hard for him to choose, but he finally did and then we took our cupcakes - plus one for Lance - down to Lance's office to surprise him. I don't think Lance's reaction when Josh walked into his office was big enough for Josh. (I should have texted him to make sure he made a big to-do. Oh well.) The cupcakes were okay - certainly overpriced. I think Josh was a little disappointed. But I figure that's the kind of lesson everyone has to learn in life, right? (Which is why I didn't fight him too much when he chose this treat.) We enjoyed a few minutes with Lance and then headed home, where we beat Spencer by a good 10 minutes, which please Josh to no end.

Now I'm on the couch, exhausted from the day. The kids have been fighting and freaking out a lot because I think they're tired from the walk to the school we took last night. But they've finally calmed down. And dinner - in Papa John's form - will arrive at 6pm.

That's my kind of feast.