At back to school night when they announced an overnight field trip in the Spring for the 3rd grade, I wrote my name down to help. I just thought that sounded young for an overnight field trip, so I wanted to tag along. I am sure Ashley could have handled it just fine, but I am still glad that I went and shared the experience. It was an incredible time too. It was really well organized, and the kids had a fabulous experience.
They go to a local camp, which the school district owns called Arlington Echo. It is along the Severn River, which is one of the major tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. The water in the Severn is brackish (a combination of fresh water and the sea that flows in with the tides). The school broke the 4 third grade classes into two groups of two. The first group left on Monday and came back Tuesday. We left Tuesday and returned Wednesday. The whole thing was scheduled out brilliantly. It would not work without parent volunteers, but we had plenty of those, and it was fabulous. Parents mainly taught the lessons at the various stations, they were the group leaders and assistant leaders (I was our group leader), they planned and provided for the snack and supervised what little sleeping actually went on in the cabins. The program there falls within their science unit and deals in detail with the Chesapeake Bay environment in which they live. They learned a lot about the bay and what affects the Bay in many ways. They learned a lot about ecology and taking care of the Earth. Save the food, it was just a fabulous time.
All ready to go. Ashley wanted to carry that pack to school. Everything for both of us save one sleeping bag is in that pack.
We packed up and went to school as usual on Tuesday morning. This time, however, I went in with Ashley, and Trent went back home with Samantha. He was so awesome to take off those two days. There was some teasing about the pages of instructions about when Sammy needed to be to preschool and when she would be home and what time he needed to be where to get Jon to and from school, but the truth is that he asked for all of that to be written down. In a small bit of confession time, I had a minor panic moment going into that school with Ashley. It was strange and discomfiting not to return home with Sammy. That is a totally strange reaction I know, but it only lasted a few minutes and off we went.
When we got to the classrooms, I was given my full schedule of events and lists of which kids were in which group. They had 7 or 8 groups of about 6 to 7 kids each. We also had a schedule or when we would attend each activity etc. Like I said, it was fabulously organized. We got on the buses, went off to Arlington Echo, went into our assigned cabins where Ashley and I set up some basic stuff on our bunk. She was on top, and I slept under her. We then took off for the flag pole area for our orientation speech followed by lunch.
View from flag pole area across the Severn River. The Severn River is a beautiful area to be sure.
At meals, our table assignments weren't necessarily the same as our groups. Everyone at our table was in our group with the addition of a couple of dads. Two of the girls in our group sat at different tables at meal time. For every meal, each table had a hopper. It was the same thing we used to do at Camp Cherry Valley only we called them waiters. Yes, my handy dandy pack of papers let me know which kids I needed to send in a few minutes early to get ready for hopper duty. Ashley was our lunch hopper on the first day, and she swears it was a ton of fun. Her job was to get our table set and the food on it and then to run for seconds etc. as people needed them. She then needed to clear and clean the table. The trick with clearing is that at Arlington Echo, part of their conservation lesson was that their waste was measured after each meal. Recycling went to recycling. Any produce or bread that didn't have dressing or butter etc. on it could be put in compost. Everything else was weighed. We were challenged to not take more than we were going to eat and then if we wanted more to take seconds so that our waste would be minimal. You get the idea. Really, if they wanted less waste, they should consider the food. Thank goodness they had a good salad bar. Whew. We had hot dogs for lunch the first day, which was o.k. I guess. The coleslaw side was not good, and the congealed beef-a-roni just looked completely unappetizing. They had some chicken stew at dinner that even the dads at my table confessed that they ate because they were hungry but not because it was good. Breakfast was awesome. There was lots of fresh fruit and yogurt and cereal options, and the pancakes and bacon were fine. Lunch the next day was pizza french bread and some kind of chicken sandwich. The second day, the group did really well with their cumulative waste. The whole group only had 1 pound of waste at breakfast. This was down from 3.5 pounds at dinner. I also think hearing that any milk they had in their glasses but didn't drink counted toward waste (and liquid is heavy), helped them adjust. I smuggled in contraband snacks, and Ashley and I hid on my bottom bunk and had trail mix later that night. It is funny thinking about it in retrospect now.
Ashley on hopper duty.
The campfire that night was amazing with activities and a guest speaker from the Iroquois Nation. He taught them all some Native American dances and the meanings behind them. It was fabulous. I wish I had pictures from the camp fire, but I don't. 10 girls in a cabin meant little sleep, of course, but the next day was still great.
When we returned in the early afternoon, I took Ashley home with me, and we just chilled out. That Wednesday I will never forget. Trent had had a blast with Sammy the day before. He and some of the other dads all went up to Bass Pro Shop and then had lunch and went out to the archery range all before picking up the school aged kids. That Wednesday was more quiet, but Sammy got off to and returned from pre-school, and everything was calm. I went to pick Jon up from school, and when I got back home, Trent was on the phone with his office. That is right. It was April 29, and the Deep Water Horizon rig had sunk, the pipe broken, and the spill discovered to be far worse than they originally thought. Trent's work hasn't been the same since then. Whenever I want an idea of how long the oil spill has been going on, I think how far back Arlington Echo was. Sheesh.
It was a fabulous field trip though, and Ashley still talks about it.
Some of the activities we participated in:
Each group did one hour doing team building games and exercises. Our group worked really well together and looked out for each other the whole time. I think doing this first may have helped with that.
Trying to find the queen bee after learning all about bees.
Unfortunately, this did not stop Ashley from freaking out about bees.
For one activity, the kids took samples of pond water and of the Severn River and compared the different organisms that live there.
A white cottonwood tree. They are indigenous trees that have been choked out. After walking around and learning about these, the kids planted saplings that will be replanted after they get bigger.
Learning about the salinity and such in the river that allow oysters to live in the Severn River.
Our last activity was wading into the river and fishing out critters and learning about them. Ashley and Joanna got a few shrimp here, which Ashley thought was fabulous. Every group but one had someone fall in the river. I was hoping for none because by the time we did this activity all their gear was up in the bowery for loading buses. One of our girls did slip and get her entire sleeve wet, but otherwise, we made it. Whew!
It was extra fun for Sammy later as we have a friend down the street who works out at NASA Goddard. She filled him in on all the things she learned about space at the space center, and he was so impressed, he brought her home some extra stickers. Currently, Sammy thinks being an astronaut is the way to go. Trent loves that idea.
