Field Trip to the Nature Center

Last Wednesday, Benny's preschool took a field trip to Milford Nature Center. This is the third year we have taken the trip, but there is always something new and exciting to discover at the nature center. New this year was a giant eagle's nest that the kids could play in. The boys hopped right in while we were waiting for our guide to arrive.

Although our weather has been quite pleasant lately with the afternoon temps reaching near 70, our mornings have been frigid. Our trip started at 9am, and on the ride up to Milford my car warned me that the temperature was right for ice. It was 32 degrees! I had the kids all bundled up in their winter gear and lots of layers. I had planned to put Sophie in the stroller inside her nice German sleeping bag, but she had other plans. She wanted to play on the playground with the kids!

Later in the morning after our nature hike was complete, the weather had warmed some and Sophie and I went to visit the exhibit of rescue birds. She loved looking at the Golden Eagles and didn't want to return to the playground with the other kids. She practiced making bird noises and was so excited to see the birds she tried to climb the fence to get closer.

Her favorite Golden Eagle was eager to let her look and point. It even put on a little show for us stretching it's wings and strutting around. The eagle looked to be as big as Sophie!

During our nature hike the guides handed out binoculars to the kids. They loved looking into the trees and over the lake for wildlife. Ben kept announcing that he had seen an Eagle, but I don't think he really did.

Since Sophie wouldn't ride in her stroller I had to carry her. It made me incredibly nervous to take the trail by the lake. She kept pointing at the water and desperately wanted to get down. I think she may have wanted to go for a swim!

After the nature hike we went indoors and had a scavenger hunt. I don't have any pictures because I was busy chasing Sophie around and helping Benny look for the animals on his list. Sophie was trilled to see all of the native Kansas creatures-snakes, lizards, spiders, birds and prairie dogs to name a few. I wasn't thrilled to see many of them.....

Later we enjoyed a picnic lunch and the kids played and played on the playground. Eventually it warmed up enough to take off our jackets. Benny was pretending to be Indiana Jones in this photo!

I hadn't realized how much Sophie would enjoy the trip. She is an outdoors girl. We plan to visit again when the weather is right!