Chaperone Trip to Sullivan's Woods

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Peanut went on his first field trip last week, and I happily signed up to be a chaperone, which nowadays requires a full background check, but I guess I’d rather be safe than sorry too when it comes to our little Peanuts. Anyhow, we went to visit this little patch of land that belongs to the local school system. I never even knew this place existed and I’ve been living here my whole life. It always feels a little magical to find places like that, that you didn’t even know were there all along.

One of my little buddy’s teachers is so well-versed in the flora and fauna of nature that she made such a great nature guide. Check out this amazing giant hollow tree.

It was a relatively hot day compared to the weather we’ve been having lately here in Wisconsin, but it felt good to be out in it, playing a little hooky. Well, not really. My boss knew where I was;) But it’s fun to pretend.

This was only one of two trips I’ve ever chaperoned in my life. I was lucky enough to chaperone for my youngest sister’s 8th grade graduation trip to Six Flags. I’m sure there will be plenty more to come, but I’m just so happy to hang onto these memories.

Not sure what these flowers are, but they seemed to be blossoming pretty well where there was a lack of any other type of greenery.

Our amazing field guide had scouted out the place beforehand and had cleverly hidden this little gem for the kids to see. She was guessing that it was a raccoon claw. She had also found an owl pellet on her scavenger hunt. Good eye!

We saw pitcher plants, heard frogs croaking, followed the trails of crawling ivy, found some shed bunny fur, and climbed on plenty of downed trees. We also spotted fungus in quite a few places.

Four-year-olds are such darlings. One little girl, who had never met me before, grabbed my hand to hold a few times without a word. It’s just heartwarming. I forget sometimes that I’m a mother figure until other kids start asking me for snacks and holding my hand. I’m so glad I got to experience Peanut’s first field trip right along with him, complete with a few requisite rounds of “Wheels on the Bus” on our trip back home.