Outdoor School

My friend Miriam over at her everydaymomblog was writing about our two daughter's 2 night trip to Outdoor School with their school class this week. I know exactly what she means about the lack of that ticking down effect when you don't have to go pick up your child from school each afternoon. This was made even more poignant for me as the 2nd day she was away was my first day of not having to run downtown for radiation. A. and I really enjoyed our time together (since he's still out of work I convinced him to take some time off from his job search and come play with me). We went out to dinner twice and out to lunch once, got a tour from the head of Z.'s school of an old run down building they've acquired for future administrative offices along with a nice chat with him afterwards and did some investigational shopping over at Ikea (we're getting ideas) without our talkative child interrupting our thoughts and conversation every 30 seconds. On the other hand, like Miriam, I missed her a lot! Z.'s been away from home numerous times before, with family or a sleepover at a friend, but this is the first school trip. I knew she was having an absolutely fabulous time so had no worries, well except for a passing concern over whether she would wear the cold weather clothes I packed her on the cold day and the warm weather clothes on the warm day (as I suspected she got it backwards), but decided that if she were too hot or cold she'd work it out herself and dismissed it pretty quickly.

A. picked her up from school early, when they returned to school from the trip, rather than waiting another hour and a half for school to let out. It was sleeting outside so we figured that might only get worse and also that she might be ready to come home and relax (and see Calvin the cat). A. got an earful about the trip on the car ride home so by the time she got home to me she wasn't so interested in talking about it, preferring to play with the cat and hang out in her playroom (where at dinnertime we found her napping). Later that evening though the two of us sat down together and she regaled me with stories about the trip, acting out all the skits that were performed by the other kids (she said she was beading a gecko when they were putting the skits together) and telling me all the food they ate (she even tried a new food, bacon), the physical challenges (like the 11 foot wall they had to scale, they made a human ladder), who was in the bunk below her, etc. and how one of the two very pregnant teachers wasn't there because she was having her baby instead. I'm so glad that she had such a great time (and she gets to do it again next year as the 3rd and 4th grade do this together each year).