I’m not sure if this is true for other families with kids in other schools, but for us, the coming of Spring means the coming of field trips.  I have come to accept that, between two kids, I just can’t chaperone every trip–but I do try to make as many as I can.

The week before Spring Break brought 2 field trips, one for each kid.  The first was my son’s to the Oregon Zoo.  We go to the Zoo often enough to warrant having a membership, but we hadn’t been since Christmas.  Honestly, this should have been a disappointing field trip–our zoo is in the midst of several construction projects for new habitats so many of the animals have been moved out for the foreseeable future.  Yet, the day ended up being perfect.  While we may not have seen all that the zoo can offer (and, really, did it matter when all that the kids remember is seeing a chimpanzee scratch his butt?), we had a gorgeous day for our visit.  Also, my son’s teacher had hit just the right balance between “assignment” and “free exploring” to keep the kids engaged.

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My kids probably won’t want me coming on their field trips for much longer, so I’ve learned to cherish the times that I can come…and I make sure to take plenty of pictures to remember it all!