Field Trip!

Last year the 3 and 4 year old preschool classes took a field trip to the SAC Air and Space Museum.  To me, it did not seem like an appropriate place for a field trip for children that young and I was very worried.  While seeing the big planes were cool, I was very worried about Ben not sitting still on the bus, running off, not eating lunch, and in general not doing what he was supposed to do.  The field trip turned out better than I expected.  They had activities for the kids, a movie, and we got to eat in one of the hangers under the wing of a big plane.  In general, Ben did OK.  He ran off a couple times, ate OK, and only had one "drop and flop" on the floor when it was time to use the bathroom.

So when the flyer came for this year's field trip, I was surprisingly not worried. 

This year the class went to a park to play and then to a tour of  Memorial Stadium (home of Husker football). With as much as Ben loves sports, I knew this would be right up his alley, because he loves to explore the football fields, run for touchdowns, and count the numbers on the field. 

We got to the playground and I admit it was a bit scary. Not only was the playground big, but it was tall and had a big lake behind it.  While it was a nice day, I did not have any desire to go jumping in that lake after Ben.

But he did great.  He played with his friends.

 

He climbed the rock wall.

 He enjoyed the swings.

 He ate most of his lunch.

He even stayed still and smiled for his class picture.

Then it was time to go to the Stadium.  I drove separately and was told to meet the group at gate 20.  While I graduated from the University (over 20 years ago), I had forgotten how hard it is to find a parking space, but finally found one in a garage across the street.  About 30 minutes later (after being told the wrong gate, construction, walking around the stadium twice, I finally caught up with the group, just as they were starting the tour.  Lucking Ben was still with them and had gone potty (the bathrooms at the park were locked).  He did get away once, got the door open to the weight room and got a few steps in the door, but for the most part he did great.  

Two of the dads lifted each child so they could touch the lucky horseshoe that the players touch before each game. 

They got to feel the field turf.

And of course they got to run on the field.  

 All that running wears a kid out, so after looking at the stadium and the practice fields, the group watched a movie and it was time to go.  Ben enjoyed checking out the statue on the way to the car, but was a bit miffed that those guys would not share their football. 

Over all it was a fun day and Ben had a nice nap on the way home!