Field trip blues

DS2's Kindergarten class went to the fish hatchery yesterday - same one that DS1's class went to a few weeks ago. Did I even blog about that?

With DS1's 2nd & 3rd grade class, it was the first time in the many many times we've visited that I had actually seen them bringing up the salmon once they've reached the top of the fish ladder, killing them, taking out the eggs, and squirting in the milt (what the male fish call their semen), and everything. Our guide was also really good with the kids, on their level without being patronizing, etc etc. The weather was chilly, but sunny and great.

Yesterday, not so much. First off, it was sprinkling. All morning. Then, the teacher decided that what the heck, we should still take the kids to play for a while and have their snack by the lake above the dam and go for a short walk through the woods, even though it was chilly and raining. So by the time we got to the actual hatchery, everyone was already a bit cold. DS2 has been fighting off a cold for 2 weeks and the day before this, he had a barking cough and I had been starting to think about taking him to see the doctor. He was much better yesterday, but still a bit off. He even announced in the car on the way there that one of his ears wasn't hearing right and it was "beeping" so obviously there's still some sinus pressure.

Let's just say that DS2's teacher is not a person who is easily contradicted and that none of the parents who were driving were ready to stand up to her. Not even me. Bad mommies and daddies all around.

Anyway, we had two lovely young women (big class so divided into 2 groups) as guides and the one for our group was holding up a picture of a salmon and expecting the kids to read the labels on it. Um, these are Kindergartners. Some can read, but they're mostly not up to anatomy and physiology words in small type on a sign you keep moving around. She was generally over their heads, but in that high-pitched speaking to small kids voice.

And they weren't even hauling up the fish yesterday, so we watched the video. Then we went down by the fish ladder, where we didn't see any fish coming up, since the gate at the bottom was closed, and got colder. Anyway, they gave us some fish food for the young trout in the raceways and we went back to school instead of having lunch there at their wet picnic tables. If I hadn't had another kid in the car (sweet little boy, very little idea of how to stay with the group), I would have just taken DS2 home because he was really worn out and sad and clingy - he didn't even want to feed the fish. As it was, I took them back to school and we ate our lunch there, then I took him home.

We then did optimal rainy day activities -- we got under a blanket to warm up, and read some books, then took a nice, long nap. Not often that I get to cuddle up with a warm child during the day. This is the same kid who wants to sleep in my bed every night, so I do get to cuddle with him regularly and even beyond my tolerance level, but I appreciate the nap time more for it being rare.

When we went to get DS1 at 3:00 - we actually were a bit late, just barely within the grace period - the storm drain in the courtyard was already backing up. By the time we got there this morning, the courtyard was full - there were men from the district trying to unclog it and they were almost up to the tops of their knee-high boots right by the drain. This was a source of big excitement for the kids, of course. I was making photocopies for DS1's class and nearly every child in the class just had to go use the restroom in the hour I was there so they could check out the progress of the work. I said we should be teaching swimming lessons. Too bad it doesn't freeze around here or we could have a skating rink fundraiser. It was basically really lucky that it didn't rain even more than it did, because it was only a few inches below flooding the classrooms.