3rd Grade Field Trip - Arboretum

I was so excited that, at the last minute, I was able to make it to Collin's 3rd grade field trip to the local Arboretum for the day.  The kids road on the bus while I carpooled with one of Collin's buddy's mom, Kirsten. 


When we arrived, the classes split up into groups. Each group spent 20 minutes at each station before switching to the next learning opportunity.  With as many kids there, the volunteers at the Arboretum kept things running so smoothly. Our group started in the learning center where they got to learn about animal fur and skins, have garden snails crawl on them, look at turtles, lizards and pond animals and learn about animals living in the trees.

Next, the kids went to the play area where they could pretend to be animals living at the Arboretum.  They climbed on ropes, jumped from log to log and dug in the dirt to pretend they were a burrowing animal.

We all then walked to the trail to have a scavenger hunt.  The class split up into 3 teams to work on the scavenger hunt.  Collin liked looking for objects that protect the plants.   There were 15 things we needed to find.  It was not a race, but Collin's team finished going through their list first.  There were a few items that I was skeptical they really found but it really did not matter.  They were not getting special treatment because of it.

We then gathered as a group at the front of the building to eat our sack lunches.  It was such a gorgeous day to be outside and eating a picnic-like lunch.  Kirsten and I had fun listening to the boy's conversations.


We left after lunch even though there was another hour left of the field trip.  The mom's were hungry and wanted to get lunch before heading back home.  We enjoyed lunch outside and then headed home.  On the freeway, we realized that we were behind the school buses taking the kids back to school.  The kids at the back saw us in the car and started waving.  We waved back and they laughed.  It was fun for them...and us.  At one point, they were dabbing and laughed hard when I dabbed back.  We drove by the side of the bus trying to find our sons but did not see them.  We know they were in there somewhere because the kids at the back are in their class.


When Collin got home, the only thing he wanted to talk about was how funny it was that I was dabbing in the car behind them.  Guess it made an impression on them.