Fall Field Trips

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We have gotten off to an awesome start this year in terms of field trips, and not just the kind that involve grocery shopping or the odd Costco run, haha. The kids have been fortunate enough to take in some really cool places.

The first was a favourite, however, no pictures were allowed. They were able to sneak a peak at a local movie set for a big Hollywood movie being filmed in the area. It was really neat to take a behind the scenes look at things. No movie stars were there or anything, although I don’t think that would have mattered to the kids at all, lol, I may have found it exciting though. One of the highlights of this trip for the kids was having one of the house painters measure their heights to put in the door jam of the house. Now they are pretty excited to watch the movie and look for their names, lol. The learning highlight was realizing a new “artistic” career. When you look at a movie set you don’t realize just how much artistic talent is necessary to make something new look old or stage things just right. After visiting the set we were able to see that another career for an artist could be in set design, and Miss Cheyanne realized that she might like to turn her fashion design aspirations into movie set costume design. 

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We also started off the school year by participating in a family run to fundraise for Kelowna’s Hospital. It was a colour run, so along the route there were people who threw powdered paint on you as you ran. The kids thought it was great, it definitely made it easier to complete the 5k! It was an opportunity to have a lot of fun as a family doing something active, and at the same time raise funds for a great cause. I think hospitals are something that we take for granted most of the time, but when you yourself or someone you love becomes dependent on the care and equipment at these hospitals it really opens your eyes to how important they are, as well as how much funding they need. I feel so blessed to live in a country where medical is covered and we don’t have to go bankrupt to pay our hospital bills! I am also thankful for the dedicated men and women who choose to become nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals, a career I could never do!

 

Before in our crazy outfits

  

and after... full of beautiful colour :)

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Davison’s Orchard was our next field trip. It was a lot of fun. We were able to go with a few other homeschool families we know, as well as join in a larger group of homeschoolers to take in a class tour. The crew showed us around the orchard, the processing and packing houses, apple juice making, and the huge refrigerators. The kids also got to check out the petting zoo and kids’ coral. The kids took in a train ride around the orchard where they grew all kinds of vegetables, and then made a stop at the Empire apple trees. Here Farmer Jim taught them how to properly pick an apple and how delicate apples are. “Turn the eye to the sky” and you will pick an apple without bruising it or yanking on it causing other apples to fall.

The kids got a kick out of trying to find all the minions hard at work!

  

checking out the warehouses and learning how they make apple juice

  

 waiting for the train to take them into the orchard

 learning how to properly pick an apple "point the eye to the sky" and the names of some of the many varieties they grow

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The Gleaners and Village Cheese Company were another interesting field trip. I wasn’t able to attend but the kids were able to go along with friends, and apparently had rather fascinating conversation all the way there, it may have involved just a little potty humour! At the gleaners the kids were able to see how they are able to take fruits and vegetables that farms can’t use or are donated an turn them into foods for needy and starving people. One small bag of soup mix can make 100 cups of soup. The operation was truly impressive! It is pretty amazing to see so many people volunteer their time for those who are in need. I hope this is something that we will do as a family as our kids get older, and definitely in our retirement! The kids were also able to try some of the soup. The kids weren’t huge fans of it, but beets have never been a big hit for them. When they were done at the Gleaners they carried on to the Village Cheese factory. The highlight for them there was learning how squeaky cheese was made.

 learning about the steps of dehydrating and making the soups

 some of the many volunteers

 

 this bag of soup can make 100 cups of soup

 learning how cheese is made

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The Okanagan Youth Symphony was our latest field trip. It was so inspiring to see such young kids excel at music. There is something about a chorus of violins that just gives me goosebumps! The symphony always brings out so much emotion. It makes me tear, lol. It was really fun to chat with the girls about what their favourite pieces were and how different pieces of music made them feel. It was really cool to go, and I can’t wait to attend the next symphony event with the kids. Unfortunately for Cheyanne she was feeling awful from having had a nasty flu so we only made it through the first half of the performance, but it was long enough to have the girls loving the music and wanting to go back. So, to me that’s a win! 

 waiting for the concert to start

 Merida and Snow White made the trip too!

 A pretty impressive crew between the ages of 12 and 25.

And of course we have had our typical shopping field trips :) Most recently we went to the mall to find a dress for the upcoming dairy conference. The girls pretty well reenacted "Say Yes to the Dress" so I figure that must cover drama learning outcomes right? They were constantly telling me that this one didn't have enough sparkle, or that one's too plain. They were quite opinionated, in the end we did say yes to a dress, but it wasn't their favourite, lol.