One benefit of having children is getting to go on field trips with them. A detriment of having children is having to go on field trips with them. I sit comfortably on the edge of that fence--in part looking forward to experiencing something new with my child, and an equal part of "I don't really want to go there/do that/HOW MANY kids will I need to chaperon?!?"
With two field trips scheduled for this 4 day week, I must admit I wasn't really looking forward to it. I am at heart a homebody. I love a quiet, regular, highly predictable routine. Of course, I love to travel and I must get out of the house and away from the kids at least once a week; but, generally, I really like a quiet, peaceful, simple life. The thought of a busy week really sucks away at my spirit. I am definitely not one that thrives on excitement and grows more energetic with more things to accomplish.
A close friend of mine sent me an article (which I later shared on this blog) about priorities. This was a Godsend. Instead of being selfish, which I was (lamenting MY lost week), I decided to approach this whole situation a little differently. After all, life is life. Most things we can't change and some things we can have little effect on. I could change my attitude, though, and search for the good in this week instead of focusing on what I thought to be the negatives.
So on Tuesday morning, I arrived at the school prepared to make the best of it. It's a good thing, too, because one of the drivers of the three chartered buses had a diabetic issue requiring an ambulance. This threw a big wrench in our plans. 13 parents had to drive to New Orleans because the driver wouldn't be able to continue on, obviously. This hiccup in our plans caused us to be 10 minutes late to the scheduled IMAX, and when we got there we found a portion of our tickets had been sold and we were not allowed to go in. This was a great disappointment. I must admit I was looking forward to sitting in a nice, air conditioned room for that hour. A quick rearranging of plans and we were at the Aquarium in the morning instead of the afternoon.
I hadn't been there before, and I must say I really enjoyed it. Seth spent most of the time with my Iphone taking pictures and video of things he found interesting. I followed behind him, marveling at how much he has grown, and what a fine, handsome young man he is becoming! I was definitely a proud mommy!
I was so pleased with how well he behaved. The last two years have shown phenomenal growth in his maturity. This is a most satisfying discovery...
Following the Aquarium we met at a riverside park to eat a picnic lunch. This was my favorite part of the field trip. The weather was pleasant, we had yummy food (you know me, I'm going to tell you what we ate! Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Carrot sticks with Ranch Dip, Pineapple slices, Granola Bar, and A Ding Dong. We washed it all down with Grape Capri-Suns and Rootbeers!) We had a wonderful time just visiting and spending special time one on one. This was the best part of the day--and I was able to understand the importance of events like this. Seth is one of six children. He doesn't often get time with just me. I have set a new goal to make sure that I have this one on one time with all of my beautiful children. They are so important to me, and I know we would all benefit from this practice.
I posted on facebook that we had, "A waterside luncheon with riparian entertainments". You can take the girl away from Hyacinth, but you can't take Hyacinth out of the girl!
Because of the IMAX mix-up, they gave us entrance to the Insectarium. At first, this did not sound good to me AT ALL! But, I remembered my commitment to try to see the positive in everything and continued on--a smile on my face. I realized how much Seth was looking to me to see my reactions to the setbacks of the day. This was so humbling! I was TRULY grateful for that reminder from a friend. Because I took the setbacks in stride, not letting them affect my enjoyment of the day, Seth did the same.
The Insectarium turned out to be pretty interesting. I was able to pick up a few books on beekeeping--which is a hobby I plan to pick up when we have our own property. I also LOVED the Butterfly Room. It was such a pleasant exhibit. Now there were certainly things I could have done without--like the spiders and edible bugs--but it turned out to be a very nice tour.
We returned home tired and ready to rest, but I really had a wonderful time and truly appreciated my one on one time with Seth.
Later I will blog about my day with Noah...
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