Utah's 3 Wiseman

VISITING SMOKEY AT GRANITE FALLS

The 1st graders always take a trip up to Granite Falls in the AF canyon to meet Smokey the Bear & learn about the ills of playing with fire. Yippee for me, I got to go with Dylan's class this year. If you have not been up there, you NEED to go. I can not put into words how absolutely BEAUTIFUL it is up there. I opted to take my smaller camera, so I am so sorry that the pics do not do justice whatsoever to the colors. Just know that it was BEAUTIFUL...ha ha, I think you get the idea:)

I got 4 of the cutest little boys in my group:

Derek, Dylan, Devin, & Jackson

First, the kids got to listen to a Forest Ranger...

Then they got to meet Smokey...

Um...is it me or does Smokey look less than enthusiastic to be there?

Now the real fun begins! Did I mention it was absolutley BEAUTIFUL up there? Just kidding! No, but we couldn't have picked better weather to be there. The air was nice & cool with a wonderful breeze that had all the kids oohinng & aahing everytime it blew the golden leaves off the trees. The children had tons of fun running around trying to catch them, jumping in them, then eventually picking them up & throwing piles of leaves (along with rocks, sticks and dirt of course) at each other's faces. I kept thinking of the scene in "Dumb & Dumber" when Harry throws the snowballs into Mary's face...ha ha, you should have seen the boys pelting the girls & vice versa. Trust me, if one of the kids had been hurt, I wouldn't be laughing, but it was pretty funny watching their interaction.

We had a ball going on our nature hike & finding all sorts of cool things in nature to stuff into our bags....leaves, sticks, pinecones, flowers, berries, etc. I actually got a little nervous the boys might get some sort of poison ivy or oak (or whatever else may linger in the forest...I have no idea what is even indidebous to these parts) since the boys were running up into the brush & off the path. Not to mention the fact that the day before a different set of first graders had been on the hike & thought it would be cool to collect a fallen BEE HIVE for their bag...um...yeah, this didn't have a happy ending. Apparently 4 children were stung-- one of which was extremely allergic to bees to the point that he needed an anaphylactic shot (talk about a memorable 1st grade fieldtrip!). Fortunately for us, the worst we got was our clothes covered with little prickly balls. They weren't very sharp, but man were there tons of them & they clung like crazy! Lucky for me, the boys thought it was pretty funny & had more fun finding them stuck all over each other & plucking them off.



After the kids enjoyed eating a sack lunch at a cool campsite with a ring of picnic tables. Dylan was especially happy I came along since I packed my own lunch with plenty of extra for him. Yippee! For PB&J, string cheese, grapes, & Fruit Roll-ups!!!...as opposed to the um..."yummy" ham & cheese sandwich provided (plus I brought a DC for myself...must have DC). The kids are required to have a school lunch, but other than the apple, there is not really anything Dyl will eat in it. He ended up giving most of the sack lunch away. Which by the way, I had a fun time watching the kids barter & exchange things...oh the good ol' days...Hey man, I'll LET you have my bag of carrots, if you give me your bag of Scooby Snack cookies...yeah, poor kid wasn't able to make a trade;)

Once we filled our bellies, we played games in the wide open field by our picnic site. I usually like to get all the kids involved so my go to game is "Red Rover". I did the same thing with Aidan's classmates when I went on his 1st grade trip. The teachers seem to like it 'cause they get to sit & rest for a bit while I keep the kids occupied. I also loved that this time some of the other parents got involved in the lines. If you can imagine, with 5 1st grade classes our lines were pretty long, but we had tons of fun until the teachers were ready to play the other games they had organized....Red Light Green Light; Duck, Duck, Goose; Pass the Hot Potatoe; Over & Under; & Frisbee! Sadly, since I was playing the whole time, I don't have any pictures of these activities. The kids ran, jumped, & had a ball playing in the great outdoors. Holy Smokes! We were wiped out by the time we had to load up on the buses again.



I do have to laugh though, on the way back to school, there was one particular girl on the bus that had an AMAZING amount of energy left. She decided that she would serenade everyone the whole way home. She kept singing over & over & over & OVER again, "Ooohhh Baby, baby, baby, If you want it, I'll give it, give it to ya! Oooooh Baby, if you want, I'll give it, give it to ya! 'CUZ I LOVE Yooooooooooouuuuuuu!" HA! At first, I kept thinking...um, does anyone else hear what this little 6 year old is singing!?! Where the heck did she hear that!?! But not a single person seem to notice or care. After a while I started laughng to myself because it just became awkwardly funny that she was singing this at the TOP of her lungs again & again with not a clue as to what the words might mean. Not to mention, that after awhile all the other kids on the bus kept yelling for to PLLLLLEEEEAAAASE stop singing already. What? You think Britney shut up every time a bus full of 1st graders yelled at her to stop? Yeah, no....that's dedication to your art form, people;)

Oh wait...maybe she should have stopped...

Also, the best was when I went into the office to check Dylan out early. The librarian was in there & asked if Smokey's head fell off this year...HA!!! The thing is this was in reference to the year when Aidan went on this fieldtrip. Upon arriving all the kids were seated on a hillside while the Ranger talks to them about fires & the role YOU play in preventing them. Then if the kids are REALLY good, Smokey comes out. Keep in mind, that at this tender age the kids are still kind of thinking...hmmm...is that a real bear or not? Well, the Ranger introduced Smokey & as he came out he triped over a rock, fell down, & off rolled his head. GASP!!!! Now envision a crowd of happy, little faces that had all just been cheering and smiling...WHAM!!! Nothing but pure silence (maybe some crickets chirping) and a sea of with wide-eyes & gaping mouths as their little minds begin to accept the harsh reality that Smokey is just a FAKE! Again, it is so sick that I am laughing at this, but you know you think it is funny too.

Um...in case you wondering, Smokey kept his head on this year:)