Class tripping

Dumping zone

This week was officially my volunteer parent week. My first call of duty was to act as parent/guardian to a small group of kids as they headed out on their year end class trip to the Baxter Conservation Area. Sounds important but essentially my duties consisted of applying bug lotion and sunscreen, dumping water out of rubber boots, opening lunch drinks, and repeating the various instructions already provided by teachers and conservationists. Not a problem.




We had a blast catching bugs and frogs, doing scavenger hunts, and sifting through the pond.



Later in the week I headed out with my other child's class to the Mill of Kintail near Almonte. Essentially my duties remained the same but my practice earlier in the week left me better equipped to handle the wild ones. Back in the day we used to call these high energy kids rambunctious but now they refer to them as having anger management issues. When I asked one of the little guys to explain further what this term meant he said, "you know, a little screwed in the head." Ok, gotcha.



In the morning we played a survival/scavenger hunt type game where I got to take the lead role as "deadly disease". Other parents got to be Mac trucks and run the kids over as they attempted to cross the road. Some of these parents took their role quite seriously and mowed down every poor child as they attempted to find all the water and food stations. In an attempt to balance this slaughter "Mother Nature" and I decided to go easy on the little ones. Lucky for them.


Stream study prep

Last stop for the day was the stream study. Crayfish, frogs, dragonflies, nymphs, leeches, whirly bugs, minnows, and lots of refreshing water to splash in.


Dragonfly nymphs

Note the hole in the upper body from where the dragonfly emerges. Just like in the movie "Aliens".

All in all it was time well spent. I really love these trips and I highly recommend them to all you parents out there. Make the time, you won't ever regret it.