One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

On Thursday, March 24, Joshua's preschool class went on a field trip to That Fish Place. Now, this is really just a big store, and I've taken my boys there before, so I wasn't sure how they were going to make a whole field trip out of it, but I was happy to be able to go along with Joshua since Grandpa Georgia agreed to watch Caleb for me that morning.

We arrived early (I'd always rather be early than late) and parked our minivan right next to Mrs. Dearborn's (his teacher). I had seen a minivan that looked identical to ours and thought "I'll park next to it" not realizing that it was hers or she was in it. She came right over and said how much she loves our ride and hers! We laughed. I took the picture of Joshua outside the store, since he LOVED the big shark that stuck out of the wall. Then we waited for his classmates to arrive, who all trickled in.

Joshua LOVED this little corner of the store where the turtles were swimming. I must say, though, that it smelled so bad that I could hardly stand it. He enjoyed looking at all the animals as we waited for the official tour to begin. The first stop was the "touch tank" pictured below. Unfortunately, the kids were too short to really get a good view or have the ability to touch anything. We tried lifting them on their bellies to reach, but it didn't really work. They just go wet! Inside the touch tank were stingrays that had their tails clipped so they're no longer dangerous.

Joshua wanted to go between his friends Bethany and Chase (both pictured below) and ended up on a very wet spot of the wall. His shirt was soaked the rest of our morning, but thankfully it didn't throw him off his game.

After the touch tank, we gave our children paper towels to dry their hands and hand sanitizer. Then we went to meet some of the other animals, which they could pet. The bunny below was named "Princess Alice" and she weighed something like 16+ pounds. That's one big rabbit! The kids liked petting her, and the store clerk warned that Alice doesn't like her feet touched.

I was trying to get a shot of Joshua petting the bunny, but it was Mia's expression in the picture below that cracked me up!

Next, the clerk got out a "pet rat." The kids all likened him to Ratatouille. The clerk said that rats may GREAT pets as they can be toilet trained and go only at a spot marked in their cages, they're very friendly and they love their owners. All of us parents all but gagged at the thought of taking one home. But, the kids enjoyed petting this rat. YUCK!

Next she got out a ferret for the kids to pet. Ferrets are similar to skunks in that they let out a significant odor, she said. She also noted that they are like toddlers in that they can't be left alone and need constant supervision. They'll hide your keys in small cracks and wander into holes, etc. YUCK was my thought once again. The kids all took turns touching her.

After these animals, Mrs. Dearborn gave all the kids a squirt of hand sanitizer again - here she is giving Joshua his.

The next stop was the reptile room. The clerk got out two snakes and showed how they coil up to protect themselves. She explained what it means to be cold-blooded and how snakes don't like their heads to be petted. Then she allowed the kids to touch them.

The next thing she let the kids touch was a lizard of some sort, I think. The kids all lined up, but there wasn't a real great order to the morning, I thought. Most parents allowed their kids to run wild without telling them to take their turn and move away, etc.

In the picture below, Joshua is petting a hissing cockroach. Again, I can't imagine that any parent would want this as a pet for their children! The little girl next to him is named Ivy, and she had NO fear! She took her turn petting anything that was shown to her.

After leaving the reptile room, the kids sanitized their hands again, and Mrs. Dearborn passed out goldfish and juice boxes that she brought for the kids (which I thought was nice). She also laid out her own blanket and let the kids sit and eat snack. I asked Joshua to smile at me and this was the face he gave me as he was chowing down. I cracked up! The teacher's aide, Mrs. Wolfe, is right behind him in the photo, and Mrs. Dearborn is wearing the blue scarf. The rest of the adults are parents.

After snack, it was time to explore the fish room, which we did on our own.

Joshua LOVED this room and moved at his own pace to see the creatures in the various tanks. The entire week or two before this field trip had been devoted to learning about the ocean and fish, so he thought it was really cool to see the different varieties. And, he was having a great time with his friends as well.

The picture below is of him next to a sting ray. That sting ray cost over $400!!! Who would spend that kind of money on something that will likely die? Not me!

Here's more fish we saw:

I did enjoy seeing the underneath side of the sting ray. The hole that looks like a belly button is where the sting ray takes in his food to eat. I thought that above his little bones looked like a smiling mouth with eyes above it for a face. They typically hover on the bottom of the ocean floor to find their food and hide against predators. This particular sting ray was $169. Again, that seems outrageous to me, but I guess I'm not a fish lover or so wealthy that I need to throw money away.

Here were some frogs for sale. I don't want any pets for the kids. Maybe some day, but not right now. Most smell bad and take a lot of work to upkeep.

Here's the Bean next to a "big fish" that he saw with a mustache. Speaking of mustaches, the other night we were talking about the 'Three Little Pigs' and how they said 'not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin.' I asked Joshua if he had hair on his chin, and he said "no, but Daddy does until he shaves it off." I was surprised he had picked that up. It made me laugh.

Mrs. Dearborn picked Joshua up to show him a crab in a cage. He said "oh" and she laughed at his lack of enthusiasm. She also told him she'd miss him next year, and I warned her that she might see him again. She asked why, saying that he has all the skills necessary for kindergarten. I replied that he just barely misses the cutoff age-wise, so we're sending him to Calvary again. And while they offer a 4- and 5- day pre-K program, it's just too expensive for us. So, he'll go 3-days again, and she's one of two teachers that teaches T, W, R. So, there's a chance she could have him again. She said that he'll do just fine wherever we send him. He's doing well socially and academically.

In fact, she told me, the day he lost his teeth was the day he lost his inhibition. He is more social, he's more outgoing, he talks more in class, he volunteers more, and all around he's way less shy. She said the two events almost went hand-in-hand with one another. I do see that he does interact more with his peers these days, and I'm glad that he's doing well in school. We left shortly thereafter to go home and be with Caleb and relieve Grandpa. It had been a fun morning out!