After the soggy late spring this hot dry summer has definitely been unusual – mosquito free too! Enrolment has been atypical as well. With several of our regular children away for the summer I was able to accommodate many school-age ‘summer care only’ children. Nap time is still needed for some of the younger children but with no infants or toddlers here it is not as crucial and it is OK if we skip nap time occasionally. Hence, we’ve been able to schedule full day field trips – an extremely rare occurrence.
Last week we spent a day at Fort Whyte Alive. I started the morning by packing a picnic lunch for all;
We loaded up the van and set off for our adventure. Once we arrived our first stop was at the Interpretive Centre where we got to get really close to some indigenous animals;
Much closer than would be possible if they were alive;
Then we visited the Aquarium of the Prairies which captivated the children for a very long time.
I was amazed by how interested the children were in watching the fish. It made me wonder if I should invest in an aquarium for our own but I think it may have been the size of the fish that intrigued the children so much. Unfortunately none of the pictures I took were able to capture the detail of this exhibit.
After we left the Interpretive Centre we strolled along the floating boardwalks – my favourite area;
The slight movement of the boardwalk made some a little nervous so we didn’t get too close to the edge even when we stopped to watch the topsy-turvy ducks;
And the green algae covered water which we almost mistook for a grassy meadow;
After lunch we visited the sod house and then took another hike. No one could resist a side trip to do this;
We ended our adventure with a visit to the Fort Whyte farm where the chickens seemed eager for some company and ran over to greet us but stayed just out of reach.
As for skipping nap time – this day everyone napped on the way home, except the driver who wishes the van had auto pilot so she could have napped too.
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