Field Trip Fun!

During these days that we've been pretty much at home, I thought it would be nice to share some of the recent outings that we've enjoyed with our homeschool group.....field trips we've taken during March and April. Our group has pretty much decided that next year, we're going to try to do our field trips during the months of September, October, and November. Then again in March, April, and May. We've discovered there are so many sick ones during those winter months and it's SO cold and just more of a time of being cozy and snug in our homes. (Actually I would have never dreamed we would be dealing with the flu in April, but that's really unusual for us). Anyway, come along with me today, and I'll share some of the fun field trips we've taken lately! First of all you should know that we usually all meet up and caravan to where we're headed!

First stop......The Bible Museum. Does that sound boring? Well it wasn't in the least! As a matter of fact, it was awesome! It just made the Bible come alive. Sometimes they just seem like "stories" that we read like fairy tales. But when you can hold something in your hand that actually came from during Jesus' lifetime, there is just nothing like it! Before we went, we read the parable of the ten virgins and talked about it at home because we knew they would be discussing it there. After explaining more about how important it was during that time for the bridesmaids to keep their lamps burning so they would be welcome at the dinner party, they passed around a lamp from that time period that actually existed and was used during Jesus' lifetime.



Then they passed around the little jar that they would have carried their olive oil in to keep their lamps burning.



I love history that comes alive!

Here are the "volunteers", Bobbi and Ian. They didn't know they were volunteering to be the bride and groom for the parable! The lady telling the story was dressed in period clothing too.



Meet Pharoah Joy!



There was a hands-on room too. Actually, they sometimes have classes there. There's a huge timeline on the wall as well as a weaving loom and many more wonderful things for inquisitive minds!



The kids were able to write their names in hieroglyphics.



There were more hands-on dioramas....



As well as different hats to try on! Here's Joy, John-David, and Tranae.



And what was playing on the TV in there? Veggie Tales! We got the cutest video of all the kids hopping around singing to Veggie Tales....even the "big" kids!

This young man was an Egypt History major and boy did he love his subject! He was speaking about the Egyptian Book of the Dead and telling about how the Pharoahs prepared for their "afterlife" and what they believed supposedly happened there.



Joy and I have studied Egypt before so this was all very interesting and very rewarding to know that she knew alot of what he was saying and could relate it to our studies.

And behind Molly Grace and Joy there is a replica of the Rosetta Stone. It was so neat to see this and read about it because it was something we had discussed before.



It was a very fun time and I even stopped in at the bookstore on the way out and bought some materials to use in our homeschool. Wow...I could have bought more....lots more, but I was good! :)

Did you enjoy that one? Okay, now we're off to the Archeological Park. This is always on our list of field trips every year. These people are so good to us and you can tell they are so passionate about the history as they speak! They began with a scavenger hunt. They were given questions that they had to search the museum area for the answers. They were either paired up or in this case....tripled up! This is Joy, Molly Grace, and Tranae working diligently.



They didn't finish first...but they finished well! :)



We had celebrity guides too.......well.....they were celebrity look-alikes anyway! Here we have Mr. Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie.....he was super funny! :) He pretty much took us on the tour of the whole place and explained everything. He showed us the Indian mounds and the one where the Chief had his house so he could overlook the entire village! He told some interesting stories!



And we have "Tom Hanks".....he had the kids in the lab where they were washing rocks and artifacts.



And by the way, both of these guys admitted to having been told numerous times that they somewhat looked like these celebrities.

Some of the kids found arrowheads and other artifacts. These are labeled and set aside for future use. You know how kids loving getting their hands dirty, so of course they all loved this....can't you tell by the smiles?



Here's the mound where the Indian chief had his house so he could overlook the village:



We also had a picnic on the grounds and then went back to the tour including a film. And they have a bookstore, but this time, I was really good! I stayed away AND I banned Joy from there! ;)

Now are you getting tired? Believe me I was tired after that one. I came home and took me a power nap in the recliner! But did Joy sleep? Nope, she had way too much energy for that....she went upstairs and played! (That's why her low energy level with this sickness had me really concerned because this girl just doesn't slow down very often...she rarely "asks" to sleep).

Okay next stop, since you're still hanging with me is the Bee Farm! This was really interesting! Our beekeeper was very passionate about his bees and was very informative. He had all the gear for the kids to try on if they wanted.





It started off cold that morning, but began to get above 50 degrees which makes the bees come out more. We only had one kid that was stung and it was handled so beautifully that I don't even think everyone knew anyone was stung at all although we did have a few bee shy kids...believe me! We learned about the queen bee, the worker bees, the life span of the bee, the way the bees communicate, etc... This is something we had also read about and studied somewhat, but this made us want to dig deeper. We're planning a more in depth unit study on bees and it's time to bring out the Magic School Bus books and hopefully we can find the episode to watch on Ms. Frizzle and the bees!

Tyler, Blake, Warren, and Joy posed for a picture! Warren is the little 4 year old boy whose picture is on Joy's bulletin board! She loves that kid and he loves her!



Then we even came home with some honey and beeswax candles! Joy wanted a butterfly candle and I got a hive one! (Hey I'm thinking prim decor here!) I'll have to show you that picture another day....I didn't have it uploaded.

Here's our group picture! Joy and I are in the black coats. I'm on the right side over there and Joy is in braids holding the baby in the middle! (Told you she loves those babies)! Remember, you can click on the picture to see it closer!



Those little white boxes are where the bee hives were:



Our beekeeper wrote this on his blog about us......I thought it was so nice: It also tells a little more about our day on the bee farm:

A group of home school students and their parents and leaders visited the bee farm today. They came out equipped with digital cameras and inquisitive minds. The group is posed in our queen evaluation yard. I explained to these students that whenever I go into this bee yard, I carry a clip board and each colony receives a “report card.” Bad behavior gets bees “expelled.” From the colonies that score the highest on traits involving bee behavior, health, and honey production, we will raise new queens. The children had many questions about how the queen bee produces the eggs to propagate the entire colony. From their home school science studies the group came in with a good background on the nature of insects, the role of pollinators, and the relationship between humans, the flowering plants, the pollinating insects, and the environment. The group also visited the honey house and the queen mating yard. It is almost impossible to fill up a digital camera or an inquisitive mind.

Thank you, Mr. Richard!



I'm laughing to myself as I finish typing this thinking how I used to worry about "socialization" in those early days! lol! Boy we do our share of socialization including many fun field trips! I hope you enjoyed your trips with us! We do have a couple of more coming up including a trip to Dinstuhl's (yes, that's the chocolate factory...need I say more?....field trip and chocolate...a nice combination)! And then a State Park where we will have a little study on bats and end with our end-of-the-year-picnic and field day! I should have more to share on these sometime in mid-May!

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UPDATE - You've all been so nice with the concern and prayers for Joy. I wanted to let you know that she seems to be feeling so much better today! The Dr.'s visit Tuesday afternoon revealed that she was on the tail end of the flu and had a sinus infection on top of it. She had lost 2.5 lbs in one week. We received antibiotics and antihistamines. After a few doses of these, she's feeling much better! At least she's up and about a little more and no fever today...Yay! She is still supposed to be taking it slow and easy though. Thanks for the prayers and get well wishes!

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By the way, our kildeer eggs haven't hatched yet and Mama Kildeer is not very patient with me and my camera, but I shall return twice a day to check on them! I've got to have pictures of those babies! And little Rascal didn't stop by for a visit last night, however, I did see Mama Rabbit hop by late in the afternoon. Maybe Rascal was grounded? :)

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Thanks for stopping by! :)