wetland explorer

What an incredible adventure we had today! We joined the other kids from church on a trip to the Alabama Nature Center. This is a huge nature preserve not far away at all, a former estate now reserved for use as a giant outdoor classroom! It's only open to the general public one weekend a month--the place is mainly for educational tours for classes and groups, and there's a summer day camp. We went on a Wetlands Wildlife excursion, and our guide took all the kids fishing with cane poles and hot dogs first. Almost all of the kids caught fish and we released all of them right away. After we fished and toured the heirloom garden on the estate, the guide (Rebecca) showed all of us a corn snake. She let the kids hold and pet the snake and gave them a basic class on snakes. Dennis was not the least bit interested in this part of the day--he tiptoed over to see the snake and then went back to his Kool-Aid and granola bar (far from the snake).

After we had our lunch, Rebecca passed out nets to each kid and took us all on a long hike through a stream. Dennis was unnerved by wading in knee-to-thigh deep water (on him, anyway) at first, and then he decided it was like splashing in a giant mud puddle for over an hour. And he LOVED it! He walked very far ahead of me--I was helping some girls who had not apparently ever played outdoors (and who were having a difficult time with the whole wading through a creek thing). He caught up to the guide and all the big kids in the front of the group. When we caught up to them, it was in time for me to see him jump off a tree into the creek and then immediately hop up and wade around to do it again and again. We looked at fish and animal tracks and trees (even Cypress!) and had the best time in that creek! And after the creek, it was time to head to another pond. Rebecca passed out bigger nets for the kids to wade into the pond and try to scoop up tadpoles and minnows and whatever else they could get. She talked about how pond ecology is different than that of the stream (in kid terms, of course). Dennis loved it and made sure to get the red net before the other kids did (so he wouldn't be stuck with, gasp, a yellow one).

The kids were worn out after all this adventure. We were trying to get them to load up on the bus, and Dennis needed his shoes on. He told me "I like having air feet--I don't want my shoes on!". He was a little fractious on the bus ride back to town, and I had to make him leave the backseat and come sit up front with the adults. He was exhausted, but he didn't fall asleep as some of the older kids did. And after we got back to the church, Dennis insisted on going out for ice cream. It sounded like a good idea to me, so we did! And then we came home and I put him in bed for his nap. I attempted to get him up a couple of hours later, and he stood up in his bed and burst into tears. He wanted to go back to sleep, and I let him. He wanted to eat supper in his bed once he did wake up, and I let him do that as well. And pretty soon now, I'm going to go dunk him in the tub and wash off the Wetlands Tour.

Awesome day! I LOVE that he got to go and experience all that stuff and that I did as well!!