What a day!

Today was probably one of my favorite days as a teacher. Our new teacher, Tina Doughty, and I took our classes to our school woods for the day. The kids had a blast, some probably had too much. Hopefully none of the parents are upset about the muddy clothes. A couple of the girls from my class really got into their work at the pond and brought some of the pond muck home on their clothes. It was kind of funny to see the girls really getting into the mud and gunk and the boys were a bit more cautious. The morning was a bit cool and really wet with dew but the afternoon was perfect. We had a great group of parents, friends, and even my wife, helping out during the day. We also had some high school students who, along with their fearless leader Sandy Dubridge, oversaw our pond center. A few of them even helped with some of the other centers. They were great with the kids and I think they had a lot of fun too. Even one of the girls who had to make a morning trip to the doctor with an apparent allergic reaction. Her hand began itching early on and then began to swell. So off to the doctor she went. But she was a trooper and was back and was right back at it helping all of our 2nd graders. This time she wore gloves. A big thank you to all those who helped make today a huge success.

This trip to the woods is a lot of fun and the kids learn a lot, but one thing that I really like about it, is it reminds me of the nature trails that I used to run around in as a kid back in Vestaburg. As kids a bunch of us used to meet up in the nature trails and do all sorts of stuff. Most of the time it was good, clean innocent fun, but I can think of a few times that our parents wouldn't have approved of some of the things that went on. Don't worry mom and dad it wasn't anything too bad. I won't mention any names, in order to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent. But regardless, it is always nice to recall the great times with great friends.

Well I think I will stop there for tonight. My feet are killing me. Plantar fasciitis and walking around the woods all day are not a good mix. I see another cortisone shot in my very near future.