DC

Shelly and I are preparing for the fifth grade field trip to DC. Four years ago Lily and I made the trek to Washington, DC with her 5th grade classmates. 

There are so many awesome things to discover in DC and I can't wait to see Shelly's excited face when she first encounters the museums, the monuments, and all of the beauty that DC has to offer. 

I don't yet have an itinerary for this trip, but I am sure there will be many new and familiar sites that will overwhelm me, as well. 

Wish us luck as we make our way to the nations's capital for three days with a bevy of excited fifth graders and their parents. 

Happy---the Pomeranian

On our way home from the beach trip, the bus made a stop at a gas station right outside of Raleigh. As Shelly and I stood in line for a restroom break, I had the idea to get off the bus and have John come pick us up. 

Sounds odd, but our plans for that evening were to arrive home from the trip at about 8:00 and then get back in the car to drive the hour and a half trip back to Raleigh. We were going there on Friday night for Lily's final volleyball tournament on Saturday morning. So, avoiding that long drive home and return trip sounded appealing. 

After checking with the teachers and getting our bags we left the bus and friends behind and set out on our adventure. 

I looked up a cab company and arranged to have them pick us up at the Burger King next to the gas station. After checking on the cost of the cab ride, I let the driver know I was short on cash and she offered to take me to an ATM to get the remainder of the money.

We hung out at the BK and waited for the cab driver to arrive. As I scanned the restaurant, I was feeling slightly uneasy about our whereabouts. I tried to be sure that I didn't let that show because this adventure wasn't too appealing to Shelly. She was a bit concerned about it all (understandably). 

Our cab arrived and I instantly felt better about the situation. The driver happily took our bags and helped us into the cab. Inside the cab we found the cutest little dog. Happy, the Pomeranian, was sitting up front and happily watching us. Once we told the cab driver it was ok, she let Happy come to the back to see us. That sweet little dog made our trip so fun and she relieved Shelly's fears. Happy was a rescue dog who had found the perfect owner. 

The sweet cab driver got us to the hotel and would only accept the $32 in cash that I had. As opposed to taking us to an ATM for the remaining $13. I took her card and am sending her the remainder of the fare. She made a crazy situation better by bringing her Happy-ness into our life that day.

The Beach Field Trip

Shelly and I and her classmates went on an overnight field trip to Beaufort last week. We had such a fun time together and did so many things. We went to the town of Beaufort. We took a double decker bus tour and a boat cruise. We toured the NC maritime museum. We checked out Ft. Macon, toured the NC Aquarium, and went to the Tryon Palace. We had dinner at the White Oak River Bistro and it was delicious. We also had lunch at the Sanitary Restaurant. It sat right on the water and the weather was so beautiful. A great time was had by all. 

On the boat cruise

Good friends

At Ft. Macon

The NC Aquarium

My sweet travelling companion

At the river otter display

Kissing the frog 

On the streets of Beaufort

At the Sanitary Restaurant

A sunny and happy ending to our trip

Stayed tuned to what happened at the end of our field trip!!!!

Field Trip Bag

Shelly and I are headed to the beaches of North Carolina with her 4th grade class for an overnight field trip. And that means I need to prepare my field trip bag. 

A few things I always like to have on hand:

• Lip balm
• Hand lotion
• Hand sanitizer
• Band aids
• Chewing gum
• Kleenex
• Portable phone charger
• Earphones
• iPad
• Iphone
• Dollar Store rain ponchos
• Snacks
• Grocery bags for trash
• Iphone/iPad charger
• Small wristlet 

Many times I also add in my big camera but thought I'd just go with the iphone for this trip. Keeps the bag feeling a bit lighter. 

I plan to use the small wristlet for my iPhone, a credit card, cash, and ID when we go to some of the museums and shopping areas. 

Those Dollar Store ponchos are easier to have on hand than a big rain jacket and they're handy when the temps are a little warmer and you don't need the jacket for warmth (we're expecting 64* days). 

It's always good to have hand sanitizer with all of the kids you come in contact with. 

I'm eager to have my portable phone charger so that I can whip it out when the phone or iPad get low. I downloaded a book that I plan to read on the trip. 

Once we've eaten some of our snacks, it's nice to have a small bag along for trash. The bag is also nice to have if we need it for any wet clothing. 

Yummy snacks 

We leave at 5:30 AM and we get to our hotel around 9:00 PM. So, it will help to have a full bag of tricks for our 16 hour day.  And, then we'll fill it back up for the second day of fun! Plenty of pictures to come from our beach adventures. 

Raleigh Field Trip

The day after Halloween Shelly and I were off on a big field trip to Raleigh with her 4th grade class. 

We toured the state capital and the legislative building and went to the science and history museums. It was a fun day for the two of us.

Post card with Shelly peeking out

Shelly's class

Inside the NC capitol

Shelly in front of the capitol building

Downtown Raleigh

Silly kids with their teacher

Friends on a field trip

UNC

On Monday Lily's school took a field trip to UNC. Ordinarily, you might think a trip scheduled for March in North Carolina would guarantee some great weather. Well, that was not the case on Monday. It was chilly and windy and we even saw a few snowflakes! But, despite the weather we enjoyed the trip.

Inside the Dean Dome

The Bell Tower

Touring the Campus

The Bell Tower

Lily's class

Friends

Sipping from the Old Well

The football stadium

Basketball court

Football stadium

Field Trip Girl

Field Trip Girl

Right after the stitches came out of my foot, Shelly was scheduled to go on a field trip. It was a trip we had been talking about since August and we were both so excited about the idea of going together. Shelly's class was going to the Lazy 5 Ranch where they got to see animals and feed them while going on a hay ride.


The big bummer...my foot was in no shape to go walking around through the animal ranch and I certainly couldn't get into the cart for the hay ride. I was soooooooo disappointed I wasn't able to go. But, my sweet girl was fine with it all and handled it beautifully. She was very excited for the field trip and was happy to have a great partner for the day. I was thankful for that. When she got home she told me all about her day and all the fun she had. 


I must say that two of my least favorite mommy moments happened back to back. Moments where I felt like I was letting my girls down. They never seemed to feel that way, but I sure did. Not being able to go on the field trip with Shelly bummed me out and I also felt badly that I couldn't take Lily to the band concert at her school. John offered to take her and we had a neighbor who also offered to take her to the concert. But, I think she just really wanted me to go with her and I couldn't. Hate that I had to bale out on her. But, as I said, neither of the girls seemed upset about these changes and they were both more than kind to me about it. I'm a lucky momma.

Happy and Excited!

Duke Field Trip

So, after the deer incident, I met Lily and her friends at the Museum of Life and Science. I was only there long enough to see the Butterfly House, but the girls all said it was a fun museum.



From there, we went to Duke University for a tour. We had lunch in the gardens (so pretty) and then began a visit of the campus. Such a beautiful school. And, it was a fun chance to stand on the Duke basketball court...even for the many who were UNC fans!