Field Trips
I don’t know if they’re even called field trips when you’re homeschooling or if they’re called family outings or excursions. Whatever the name, this year I was determined to make a few more things happen during our school year. I was determined all the other years, too, but the daunting drives always outweighed my determination.
Last year we did a few things, most notably the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly and the Frontier Culture Museum (twice!). The sheep shearing day in March is awesome if you are thinking of going!
I was hoping to do something once a month and had a running wish list, but no concrete plan. The other day when I found my list again, I realized we’d actually done pretty well!
In August we spent the afternoon at a swimming pool with friends all excited about seeing the eclipse! It was the perfect spot because all the concrete made the dancing crescents easy to see!
But our favorite spot to watch them was the black cover on top of the hot tub!
We visited Swananoa in September. I remember rambling across the grounds as a teenager ….. back when there weren’t “No Trespassing” signs with dire consequences listed posted everywhere! The details of the place beg for fifty-five exclamation marks after every sentence. The marble!!! The stained glass window!!! The VIEW!!! We thought we were done and then we wandered back through what used to be the gardens and found the old tower. I stood there imagining dinner parties back in the day. Just incredible! We spoke briefly with the current owner who actually spent some time living there before deciding she preferred being warm in the winter. 😉 It really would be a cold, cold house to live in; but oh, how I wish someone would restore and modernize it so it could be used today. It’s just so gorgeous!
October found us at one of my favorite spots! Carters Mountain Orchard. This place holds priceless memories for me because it was our first outing with Liam years ago after I quarantined him for six weeks trying to get his little immune system strong enough to handle life. We don’t do a lot of whole family outings and to do one at the end of such a long stint of staying home from everything was a huge celebration and milestone! I’d been back with the boys one other time, but it was years ago. At the last minute, David decided to quit work two hours early and go with us. It was just as much fun as I’d remembered! Apples taste exponentially better when you pick them off the tree seconds before eating them! The apple cider slushies are as phenomenal as I remembered and the apple cider donuts? Well, who wouldn’t love those? We stayed to watch the sun head toward the horizon as hot air balloons and airplanes floated across the sky. The next day the boys were still talking about it.
“You know what was the best part of yesterday? When Dad said we couldn’t and we DID!” (Referring to getting the apples they wanted from the tops of the trees. You aren’t allowed to climb the trees, but boys are pretty good at improvising.) 😉
“Oh, that was so awesome!”
I’ve wanted to go to Luray Caverns ever since we’re back in Virginia, but the admission price is a bit daunting. The week of Thanksgiving my parents offered to pay for all of us to tour the caverns. Wow, wow, wow!!!! Their website does nothing to prepare you for the sheer magnitude of the place! I did a quick review online on trip advisor in the morning before we headed out and got an idea when someone mentioned walking almost a mile. Even then I was blown away! It’s unbelievable the vastness of the rooms and the intricacies and variety of formations.
{Don’t they look like bath towels?!}
December was filled with Christmas activities and a fun little outing to a gingerbread house competition with my friend, Rachel.
And now, I still have more places on my wish list than months left in the school year so we’ll see what happens!
Whether you are a homeschooling mama or not, I’m always up for great recommendations of places to visit! Where do you like to go?
Thanks for the reminder. Field trips are so much work with a baby along that I tend to forget how much fun they are as well. Kenwood went with a friend to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center and loved it! Our family also enjoys the Virginia Safari Park in Natural Bridge (this is not the same place as the Natural Bridge Zoo!)
Some closer places we’ve enjoyed are
Michie Tavern (the tour of the building is free if you buy lunch there),
the Rotunda at the University of VA (always free, tours have a lot of interesting info., especially in summer when the tour includes the lawn and student dorm area),
The Fralin Museum of Art in C’ville(free. Exhibitions vary; check website for current displays)
watching airplanes at Charlottesville airport (also free if you stay for less then 30 minutes. after that you have to pay parking fees)
and, it’s not exactly educational, but my boys love Bounce, Play, n Create (sadly, it is NOT free)
OOOOOH, these are great suggestions! I’ve been thinking of doing Michie Tavern / Monticello soon and didn’t realize you can get tours of Michie Tavern, too! Thank you so much! We haven’t done the Safari Park in years, actually I think that was back when Adam was our only child, so we really should go again. And I’ve never done the tour of the Rotunda, even though we love to walk the lawn and gardens.