The Adventures of Batman and Robin: Last Field Trip of the Year

Friday we had our last field trip as a member of the 3's. Let me tell you what the highlights were for the kids:

Riding the church bus (because of course, there are NO carseats...not even seatbelts)
Using your two fingers to pet all the reptiles
Watching the speaker feed a worm to the turtle
And the best moment of the day.....the opossum that pooped on the floor!

In all seriousness, it was a really good field trip. We went to the Nature Center at the Gulf State Park. They have a great display of animals and reptiles that are native to our area. After listening to a speaker talk about some of the animals and getting to pet a few animals (rat snake, baby alligator, turtles), we boarded the bus again and drove across the highway to the Gulf State Pier. The Pier is new since Hurricane Ivan. This was my first visit since it was rebuilt and Charlie's first visit ever. The weather was absolutely amazing and there were LOTS of fishermen out and about. What I was really pleased with was the willingness of the fishermen to teach the children. We had so many of them stop to show the kids different kinds of fish they had caught. The kids had a great time! They even got to watch a man reel in a huge Spanish Mackerel at the very end of the pier. And much to our surprise, when you catch a Spanish Mackerel, you have to kill it immediately. So as soon as the fisherman got the hook out of the fish, he took the fish and slung it on the ground to kill it! There were lots of squeals for the kids, but I have to admit, mine was probably one of the loudest! Apparently, if you don't do that, the fish is no good to eat...who knew! Anyway, it was a great day and we wrapped things up with a pizza party and walk at the Park Pavilion. I will miss so much this school year. Charlie has had such a great teacher and this school has done so much for him. I love it...and so does he! Of course, I leave you with pictures of our day!