the BIG overnight field trip

Oh what a long....long.....long day.  It was fun...exciting....thrilling.....and tiring.  

24 children and 7 adults boarded the bus at 9 am and headed north.  There was a caravan of other parents and siblings following.  I was on the bus....and tried my best to deal with the excited....and LOUD children.  I used to one quiet child.  :)  We stopped along the way for a picnic lunch by the ocean, and a hike up to a lighthouse.  The kids had a great time running around, and each had a chance to climb to the top of the lighthouse and look out.  Then...we were back on the road. 

We arrived at a marine science center in time for a bit of a look around, and then we were invited into the classroom to pair off and dissect squid.  This was met with a variety of emotions.  Sugar Bear was pretty excited, and eager to check it all out.  Good times.  After the dissection, there was time for a bit more exploring.

Next we headed to a State park for snacks, and a great discussion, and informative hike with Ranger B.  So wonderful to be outside with all the children.  

Finally, at 6pm we arrived at the Aquarium where we would be spending the night.  We had to get allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll our stuff into the building, and move it around several times.  It is a HUGE place.  We had a safety chat, then dinner, and on to a really fun group treasure hunt among the exhibits.  We then went back to a classroom where the children were split into teams, an they created unique fish with crazy adaptations.  So fun.  There was supposed to be snacks....a video....and another activity, but we were wiped out. So off to the Shark and fish tunnels for bed set up and lights out.  I had the pleasure of sleeping in the shark tunnel with about 18 children and two other adults.  The rest were in smaller fish tunnels.  I grabbed this shot of the kids getting settled.  I wanted a shot of everyone laying down, but I knew they were going to shut most of the lights down, and it would be too dark, so I snapped this one, and hoped for a better shot later......but I was right.  With the lights down....it was way too dark.  I'd love to report that all the children followed the rules and stopped talking when the lights went down, but instead....I was up trying to keep a few children quiet much longer than I wanted to be.  It made me grumpy, and I couldn't just relax and enjoy watching the sharks swim all about.  sigh.......