Trip to the Museum for Beaver Education

Our penultimate market was complicated by a field trip we wanted to make down to Grafton, which is about an hour drive south. It’s actually a really nice town, we’d visited it once before and had a nice time. Really nice community of people, though it got hit hard by Irene and was in the midst of rebuilding.

There is a nature museum down there that is small but has nice classes on various nature topics. This one was on beavers, which are amazing creatures, but the main draw was getting to spend the day with DE and his kids, who A&N get along with really well. The only problem was, we had to be at the market by 2:00, and the class went from 10:00 until 2:00. Factor in an hour drive, and that I have to prepare an hour before getting there (i.e., 12:00), and there was no way we were going to make it.

I broached the possibility of DE watching over A&N and then bringing them to the market. It was a lot to ask, but he was all for it, thanks to him for helping us out. We could have just bailed out on the whole thing and taken the kids with us, but they get along well with C&A, and I’m sure they’re sick of the market. I know I am.

The plan was for all of us to head down to Grafton. DE had offered to take all of us in his truck, but since I had to leave early, I followed in our car. The kids sat with the them because it’s more fun with friends. I got to listen to NPR instead of Lady Gaga. The drive was quite an adventure, he took a rather circuitous route that I’m guessing is based on experience, and at one point, I began to worry that I wasn’t going to be able to find my way back. The museum itself is rather small but nice, and I got to sit in on the first hour of the program.

The instructor is a wildlife biologist who happens to homeschool his kids, as well. There was a really informative presentation, and at some point the kids were going on a nature walk to visit a real beaver den and dam. I had to leave, so I missed out, but the kids had a blast.

I, of course, got to prepare for the market, but more on that later. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to H Rotgers for the pic.