5th Grade Field Trip

Yesterday I went with Doodle and the 5th graders from her school to the San Juan Islands. We were there to learn about The Pig War and of course enjoy a ferry ride along the way!

After waking up at 5:30am, which is almost 2 hours early for me, I arrived at the school, got my instructions from the teacher, grabbed Moxie Crimefighter (who was my co-pilot for the day) and hit the road! The best part about going on this fieldtrip was NOT having ANY children in my car!

We get up to the ferry dock, and after some goofing around, and a 50 minute wait, make our way to American Camp.

We arrive at American Camp, and it is a gorgeous day. After the downpour we had the day before I was a little worried. Here are PIA and I in the parking lot getting ready to head out to the Captain's Quarters of George Pickett.

We meet the AWESOME Park Ranger Fred, who regales us with the story of what happened.

Here he is with Doodle at the main entrance. So anyway, Ranger Mike comes in, and as he fills us in on some of the other local stories, he reminds us how important The Pig War was, and how if Lyman Cutlar had not shot the pig and I quote "like BLAM! Bacon!" we would not be here today! He changed the course of history........ I thought it was a great way for the kids to have it become personal for them.

We then headed off to English Camp for some grub and small hike up to the gravesite of the fallen soldiers. They also had a beautiful English garden.

We got back to the ferry dock, with an hour to wait. Got the kids some ice cream and Moxie and I wandered around the little shops........ found some great shell rings! Rocked out to Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the way home. All in all it was a great field trip!

It was nice to see Doodle's teacher outside the classroom. He is good people. I know Doodle has learned a lot from him and I am just thanking him over and over for the commitment he makes to our children and their learning process.