Field Trip! Plus, a preview...

This week, we took a really great fieldtrip to the Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary in Liberty, Missouri.  It was a bit of a long bus ride, but the kids had SO much fun.  We hiked down to a creek to look for fossils!  We do a big unit on fossils in second grade, so this trip paired perfectly with what we'd been learning in the classroom. 

Our guide, Miss Sue, was wonderful!  She told the kids lots about different plants on a our way down the trail...here she was telling them how they can recognize poison ivy.  Good information to know!

Here is the whole crew down by the creek...it was a little treacherous getting here.  It was very muddy on the trail from all the rain we've been having around here lately.  Luckily, we all made it down to the creek in one piece.  I had seven parent volunteers there to help -- all dads!  Most of the kids LOVED getting in the mud, and we were prepared with long pants and old tennis shoes.  There was only one minor snafu, which I will recant quickly:

Earlier that morning:

Me:  Boys and girls, we need to get all of things together for the fieldtrip to put on the bus.  When I call your group, please put your lunch in this bag over here, and your change of clean clothes in this bag over here.

(Insert complete chaos)

Me:  Now, has everyone put their lunch and clothes in the bag?  If you forgot something at home, now is the time to tell me so we can do something about it!

Second graders:  We didn't forget anything!  We're ready! (Yes, that's paraphrasing...)

Three hours later during lunch time in Liberty -- 1 hour from school

Second grader:  Mrs. Shinabargar, I can't find my lunch.

Me:  What do you mean you can't find it?  Did you put in the bag this morning?

Second grader:  I think maybe I didn't hear you say to put it in the bag.  I think maybe I left my lunch at school in my back pack.

Me:  *sigh*  I'll share my lunch with you.

Oh, the joy of being a teacher. :)  At least this was the worst that happened on this day -- I had nightmares of children being washed down the creek, sinking in the mud, or being bitten by snakes.  I can deal with a forgotten lunch.

Anyway....isn't it beautiful down there?  It was nice and quiet too...well...that is, until 65 second graders showed up and disrupted the peace of the "sanctuary". 

Looking for fossils.  They actually found quite a few.  The little one above in stripes found one and showed it to Miss Sue, who exclaimed "Holy Cow!  You found a crinoid!  The Missouri State Fossil!"  She made such a big fuss about it -- you should have seen this little girl grinning from ear to ear.  I think Miss Sue definitely made her day. :)

Okay, totally unrelated....but I was very excited to post this find.  I found this old chair today at an antique store for $25!  Yay!  I've been looking for a fixer-upper chair like this for a while now...and as soon as I saw this one (and the price tag on it) I knew I had to have it!  I've already taken it apart and gotten it sanded.  Mark primed it for me (because I'm not allowed to use spray paint cans...something about "you're not doing it right"...whatever).  I got the cushions recovered today also.  I should be able to post the final product very soon -- with instructions and more step-by-step pics.  Stay tuned!