As I stood in front of the myriad of fish tanks at Petsmart today with the two little kids, I was glad (for once) that there were no employees around trying to be helpful. Ty and Mia were enthralled by the hundreds of fish swimming around in front of them. We were actually early (for once) and had plenty of time to make a 5 minute trip into the pet store for an aquarium light bulb into a 45 minute field trip. It also just so happens that Petsmart puts almost as much information up about their fish as our local aquarium so it really felt like a legit educational experience as we learned the names, preferred food, necessary tank sizes, life expectancies, and swimming depths of the fish.
If I would’ve know how bloggable our morning errands would be, I would’ve taken my camera.
Why stop at fish? I thought. We moved onto small mammals, reptiles, and birds. We even got to witness the cleaning of a chinchilla cage. Who needs Keeper Encounters (or whatever they’re called at your local zoo). By the end of our visit, we knew that chinchilla’s like to live in same-sex pairs, eat Timothy hay, grow to be 10-12″ (not including the tail), and enjoy bi-weekly dust baths.
Have you ever run an errand that turned into a field trip?
Melissa, we do the same thing. Emma begs to see the fish at the local pet store. I've even taken her for a tour around the local SPCA when we dropped off some dog and cat food I had gotten as samples and for really cheap using coupons. She loved it and it really touched her to see where unwanted pets go. She got to talk to the staff about how they care for the animals and decided she wanted to rescue an animal when she grew up.
As you know, we also visit the local farms once a week in the summer. I've learned to be better prepared with water, sunglasses, a hat, and early morning hours for Emma to deal with heat and grit in her eyes. We also visited the local Co-op at Cromwell Valley Park and got to talk to a farmer there and saw the compost pile and she got to ask a lot of questions about bugs, composting, and learned about organic farming, even though she doesn't understand what organic is. Loved this article!
Melissa, we do the same thing. Emma begs to see the fish at the local pet store. I've even taken her for a tour around the local SPCA when we dropped off some dog and cat food I had gotten as samples and for really cheap using coupons. She loved it and it really touched her to see where unwanted pets go. She got to talk to the staff about how they care for the animals and decided she wanted to rescue an animal when she grew up.
As you know, we also visit the local farms once a week in the summer. I've learned to be better prepared with water, sunglasses, a hat, and early morning hours for Emma to deal with heat and grit in her eyes. We also visited the local Co-op at Cromwell Valley Park and got to talk to a farmer there and saw the compost pile and she got to ask a lot of questions about bugs, composting, and learned about organic farming, even though she doesn't understand what organic is. Loved this article!