2017 First Day of School Field Trip

I'm sorry to shock you with such pictures!  This is how it was that morning and it's actually a very good thing!  If I had for one second thought about the fact that this was Callie's last First Day of School and the last time that we would be field tripping all of us together with our friends, I'm sure there would have been puddles of tears!  Downpours actually!!

So goofy, badly lit, somewhat blurry pictures we have.  Yet it was a great day and one of my favorite field trips that we've ever had.

Our theme for the year, Proverbs 22:17 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit drys up the bones.  I don't think I've ever officially chosen a theme before, but I decided to this year.  I wrote it on this "chalk board" contact paper and the next day I taped it to the stairwell with washi tape.  It is a much needed reminder some days!

I also took strips of the same paper and made them sashes with their grades written on there.  I thought it was an awesome idea, if I do say so myself.  I'm not exactly sure they agreed, but they did cooperate, so that's something!  If you actually peel the backing off, it would stick and really be perfect, but I figured if I asked them to wear these on their clothing all day, they might just run away!  Forever!

This year we decided to go the the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute.  Someone said that was a depressing field trip, but my friend answered, "Yes, but an important one."  Oh how right she was!  This was one of the best field trips we have ever been on because we were able to hear the first hand account of Eva Kor's survival of Austwitz concentration camp.  She is now in her 80's but don't let her small stature and walker fool you.  She is not one to be reckoned with! LOL  She is funny, she is poignant, she spoke for over an hour and even Kate was never bored, even though she was tired of sitting.   We had just begun the question and answer time when a pesky politician came in to be interviewed with her (it was the day or two after the Charlottesville, VA riots) so our time and picture taking opportunities were cut short, but she had told us we could take pictures with her, get autographs, and ask her anything we wanted.   If you ever have the chance to hear her speak or go to the museum, do it!  You will want to call the museum first, as I think she is not there every day.  It is a small museum, but very well done.  There is also a virtual interview of another survivor that you can participate in and that was really good too.  You get to ask the questions, anything you can think of, and he has answered them.  Sort of like a live Google search of this man's experience.  It was pretty neat.  Sad, but so meaningful!

Remember the movie "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"  So far, I have refused to watch it, but Callie really loves that movie.  Anyway, it was kind of cool (in a weird sort of way) to see the real thing.

There is so much that I don't remember from my own history studies in school.  It had just so happened, unintentionally, that I had read several novels about this time period and saw The Zookeepers Wife in the previous six months, so it was very interesting to see all the factual pictures, articles, etc. line up with the novels I had read.

Then of course there is always the group hug at the end of the day.  Again, if I had thought about the significance of this particular field trip, I would have made a greater effort at a more perfect picture here, but let's just all thank the Good Lord that I didn't!!  Because right now?  Watery eyes!!  I can't believe that Callie is a Senior and Kate is beginning 6th grade!  It just doesn't seem possible.