Just Holding Our Breath - First Big Fieldtrip

The talk on whether or not to take the children on a fieldtrip has come up in many discussion groups.  Some would rather not for the simple reason that it is scary to take a bunch of little ones away from the safety net of our back yards.  Some decline for the simple reason of costs associated with fieldtrips, such as; insurance rates, food, entry fees, gas.  
Then there are others like myself that love fieldtrips.  Normally in the Bay Area, we had dozens of places to take the children to, anywhere from a 5 minute drive to a local park to an hour or so drive to the zoos or museums.  Either way, we had the best times exploring our world outside of our home.  Yes, it was scary, and I often felt like I was holding my breath, trying to constantly count our little yellow shirts, but we always walked away a little more sure of ourselves and more knowledgeable of how to handle ourselves in public.  We also develop a respect for our world, not to mention, building strong relationships with our friends by helping care for each other.  
Again, there are many mixed feelings about fieldtrips, but I for one am excited at the prospect of exploring our world.  
Join me on my first Sonora fieldtrip with our little ones.  (just holding my breath)!

Pinecrest Lake & Campground

Rock climbing, we have 3 boys and 3 girls, what a great mix.

         Check out our scenery in the background.

Watch them play.

Our youngest was the first to venture a little out into the water.  Mr. A helped guide her and was ready to assist her while she found her footing inside the cool lake.

The group decided it was a blast gathering mud from shore and work together to create a mound.
The learning here far exceeds any learning we could have done at home.

You can see them here working together on the mound.  So much mud and no one to tell them no!  

I loved listening to them discussing what they were doing and how they used teamwork to decide how it could be accomplished.

It's hard to see, but in the background one of our 3 1/2 year olds was having a blast being tossed into the water.  He continued to ask to go again and again.  So, Mr. A continued tossing him and helping him get his footing each time.
See him jump into the water below and how much control he has to pop right back up! 

This is a cute picture.  The kids found a hollowed out tree and were pretending to be baby birds in a nest.  It was adorable.  I couldn't resist to have them pose for a picture, but they saw it as a bit of a distraction from their fun.  I grabbed my pic as fast as I could, then it was back to pretending.

 A little bit of rock climbing.  (God I love nature)

A little bit of tree climbing!

After sunscreen, swimming, bathroom runs, lunches had, rock and tree climbing, photo taking, playing chase, pretending and enjoying life, it was time to leave.  Back on the road we went.  The drive is normally a 35 minute drive away from our home, but with tree removal road construction, it took an hour.  Kiddos were falling asleep in van, Andy Z music was blasting and finally we arrived home one by one.  
The question I asked myself, "was it worth it?"  YES, it totally was.  More Fieldtrips coming soon to explore our world!
Here are a couple cute pics to share from home.

Getting ready for our morning stroll to the park across the street from our home.

Welcome to our two newest members of PattyKakesKidz.  Tristan and Conner.  Welcome boys!  Whoops, our group has just shifted in testosterone! ROFL.  Until our next post.
 ♥ PattyKakesKidz ♥