DeSoto Caverns

First 3rd grade field trip of the school year....HOLLA.

Hubs and I BOTH got to go. I called it a 'day date' since Oliver had to ride the bus and we got to be in a car ALONE for a really long time, AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. 

That's right.

Adult music.

Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've listened to the radio? 'Teen Beach Movie' soundtrack is ALL that's been playing in my swagger wagon for MONTHS now. It was good to have a break.

Sorry. I digress. Back to our trip.

We drove to the booming city of Childersburg to visit DeSoto Caverns, and while this wasn't my first visit, I don't really remember my first visit. It was like I was there for the first time again, with my 8 year old. And my hubs. And 165 3rd graders. On a 'day date'. It was awesome.

We explored the cave, watched a video on the history of the cave, sat in total and complete darkness in the cave, and saw a super cool light show set to music and projected onto, that's right, the inside of the cave.

Then we came up outta that cave.

The kids got to 'pan for gold', or pretty rocks that were stuck there just for them, go through a maze, and throw lots of money away in a gift shop that carried everything from giant 3-feet-long tubes of colored sugar to the most realistic looking fake guns I've ever seen. No kidding...really wish I'd snapped a pic of one of those sugar tubes. They were like pixie sticks for giants.

Anywho, it was a fun day despite the drizzle and the big hair caused by the drizzle. O had a good time, and it was great that we were there to see him have a good time. And also to prevent the purchase of any giant-sized pixie sticks.

 

It's a zoo out there...

I don't know about you, but one of my fondest field-trip memories from elementary school was going to the zoo. I remember the giraffe's, the polar bears, the flamingos, and I also recall that I wore a yellow outfit that my grandmother made with my hair in two braids and light pink reebok tennis shoes. Isn't it odd some of the things that stay stored in your brain? Especially when it's sometimes impossible to recall what you fed your kids for dinner just 24 hours ago. Anyway, O's class took a trip to the zoo last week and the girls and I followed the big yellow bus in my mini, which also carried a double-stroller and a cooler full of juice boxes and uncrustables. The weather was perfect and I mean perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, but as Goldilocks would say, "just right".



 We ended our fabulous day at the zoo with a quick run in the fountain. Well, the kids did anyway, so not so much 'we', but rather 'they'.

Can't wait to go back, y'all.

Happy Monday!



Around the town: Tuscaloosa style

As I mentioned Wednesday, Oliver's class (and two others) went on an 'around the town' field trip yesterday and it was awesomesauce. Of course, any class in any town in any state can go around the town and see the sights that their particular city has to offer, but today, these kids and a few lucky parents were able to see the latest addition to the stadium, go into the players locker room, take a cruise down the Black Warrior while eating lunch on the Bama Belle, as well as watch a Police helicopter take off at the airport.

It was all kinds of cool.

Here's a few shots from each of the places we visited yesterday-

*****

Tuscaloosa Airport/Fire station

Oliver's thoughts on this vehicle?

It's a transformer.

Of course.

Bryant-Denny Stadium

Recruiting room-

Locker Room-

I'd love some houndstooth tile in MY bathroom...

The Bama Belle-

Post Office, Downtown Tuscaloosa

It was such a fun day and I was so thrilled to have found a sub to fill in for me so that I could go. We're enjoying a day off from school today, as well as next Monday & Tuesday for Fall Break. We'll also be attending the homecoming parade on Saturday (my seester is a judge!). So many exciting things going on for the weekend.

Do you have any big plans?

Have you ever eaten lunch on a boat with 54 first graders?

Have you ever seen a fancier locker room in your life?

Me neither.

Happy Friday friends!