Fieldtrips R fun!

I sat in my lawn chair last Thursday happily munching my turkey sandwich and watched my children roam in the warm sunshine. I had spent most of the morning pouring over boxes full of used curriculum and school books, laughing with other moms as we filled our vehicles with our prized finds. For me the free curriculum exchange is the best part of Edufair. Free, is one of my favorite words!! Every year we attend a home school fair packed full of adventure, local businesses set up their tables with information about themselves and a fun activity for the kids relating to their business. A science show put on by Mad Science blows them away with experiments about air pressure. The Nature Center demonstrated the different types of owls and interpreted their owl language. The creek running through the park was full of adventure waiting to be discovered, captured and explored. Stories told by a Native American captured imaginations while artistic ability ran wild at the craft table. The kids labored over thank you notes written in exchange for prize tickets, excitement was everywhere. All too soon the fun was over and we packed into the van among the books and headed for home. Soon eruptions of joy filled the air, "MOM!, you found the book I've been looking for!"; "Hey, an old Hardy Boys book!"; "Meto-mor-fus!"; "All about ocean tides"; "Is this 3rd grade math for me?!"; "Flashcards!! okay, what is 4+5? No peaking!" That pile of books should keep them busy for at least....two weeks? :-) They all love to read and be read to, that is one thing they got from me. Something they all got from their Dad is sidetracking! That is what happened on the way home. Does anyone else have a place that they are always planning on stopping at one day? The Wilson Creek Battle Site sign taunts us on the way home from the nearby city every time we make the trip. For the last couple of years we have planned to stop and today was the day! The Wilson Creek Battle Museum was open just long enough to wet our interest in the creative exhibits of Civil War history and artifact displays. Outside a silent cannon called us over for a quick picture, and as the gates closed behind us we planned our next visit, a picnic! with our cousins before we explore the battle field of not so long ago.