After a great morning of sleeping in, I was able to have a productive afternoon. I can now check grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning off my mental to do list. This evening I will have some time to spend with my boyfriend and friends before preparing for another great week of teaching fifth grade.
Speaking of fifth grade, I got to experience my first fifth grade camp field trip the last three days. Our entire grade level spent several days at a nearby camp in the great outdoors. I felt so fortunate to spend a few of my workdays in the beautiful outdoors hiking, playing educational games, and learning right alongside my students as our trail guides taught about using compasses, birdwatching, eagle's nests, and wild mint to name only a few pieces of the fun knowledge we gained. It just helped to strengthen my belief that letting kids get outside and experience nature is so incredibly important. Suffice it to say, I had a blast and am already looking forward to next year's trip. It also make me rather antsy for summer to arrive so that I can make some trips down to my very favorite camp in the whole world, Indian Creek. Although I won't be spending this summer working on staff as I did last year, I am looking forward to volunteering as a cabin leader for a few days and popping in to see many of my close camp friends.
In addition to this wonderful field trip, I only recently returned from a fabulous Spring Break trip to South Padre Island, Texas with some of my prior coworkers. Although we had to battle some cloudy weather, we were able to spend countless hours in our beach chairs reading book after book and soaking up tons of warmth and sunshine. One unique highlight of the trip arrived unexpectedly as we were trying to pass the time the one day with unusually cool weather. As we drove down the main road of the island, we decided to stop at the sea turtle rescue center. I was able to see a number of injured sea turtles that had been rescued and which were either being cared for indefinitely at the center or being nourished for a future release by the scientists there.
Spring Break and being outdoors makes me anxious for summer to arrive. I can't wait for country concerts, outdoor get togethers with friends, helping my dad in the flower fields, and the many other nostalgic activities that the summer months bring. It will be here before we know it!
