Field Trips

I love fieldtrips. Yet I so rarely get my act together to schedule it. We live in easy driving distance of the National Mall and all the wonderful Smithsonian museums. However, with them always available there is no motivation to go now.

The Discovery Theater is also right on the Mall. So I have committed to several of the age-appropriate shows. The limited nature of these shows ensures that we actually get there. We went for our first show of the year today. Froggy got her first taste of HipHop with Secret Agent 23. She even got up and danced a bit.

We had planned to have a picnic afterwards and then head home to Park Day. But before the show even started, Froggy asked if we could go to the dinosaur museum after lunch. The picnic was wonderful. I wish I had brought our camera. Froggy danced with statues in the Sculpture Garden. I had to keep reminding Froggy that we only had limited time and that we could not see everything in one day. I kept telling her we would come back and this time I could even give her a date. This is the reason I homeschool. She wanted to visit all the museums. I want this joy to last forever. The unexpected learning is the most real and joyous.

We finally made our way over to the Natural History Museum. We spent about an hour in the new Ocean Exhibit. Froggy fell in love with Phoenix, who introduced her to Baleen. It took lots of questions for her to understand what makes these whales different and how they eat. But she just kept asking and asking until she was comfortable with her understanding.

Once we finally did make our way over to the dinosaurs, we got to see a scientist preparing a fossil with an autopsy saw (not this one but just like her). It was really cool. We had fun deciding which dinosaurs we should be scared of (only the carnivors). Herbivores are apparently nice even if they look frightening. Those big spikes are only for defense.

I am very much looking forward to our next trip.