Summer Field Trips: Ferrystone Park

The best part about working in the summer program that my company provides our clients is the field trips. Every Friday during our seven week program, we take the children to various locations which are meant to promote social skills through therapeutic interactions with peers. At least, that's the way it's supposed to look on paper.

The reality is, field trips get us out of the classroom every Friday. Convenient, since the school we use for the classroom portion closes its doors on Fridays during the summer.

Also, another reality is, it's also the worst part about working in the summer program that my company provides our clients. Really, one could flip a coin and those are the same kind of odds you'd come up with in trying to determine if a particular field trip will be a good one or a bad one.

Today marked our very first trip of the summer. We loaded 24 kids onto a school bus and drove them about an hour away to Ferrystone Park. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful first day of summer for a trip to the lake.

If you haven't been to the lake recreation area at Ferrystone Park, I'm sorry to say, you're not missing much. I mean, it's just a man made beach with some roped off swimming areas. I'm not a fan. But I can't say as I'm a huge fan of swimming in a lake.

Try not to stone me just yet. I just have this thing about water that just sits there. I'm not a strong swimmer, so I'm not a big fan of any activity that involves getting in water. But at least with a swimming pool, you can almost hope that it's being cleaned and maintained on a regular basis. A lake is a really big body of stagnant water. I can only imagine what goes on in that stagnant water. For the record, I dislike taking baths for the same reasons. I'm not a fan of sitting in a pool of my own filth. If I were forced to take a bath for relaxation purposes, I would need to shower beforehand. And after. 'Cause gross.

Anyway, I did get into the water. But no deeper than what came to my ankles. I was ready to go all the way, just in case an emergency situation arose. Thankfully, no emergencies occurred. So I mostly sat on a fake log on the beach and watched as children splashed about, having the time of their lives.

For the most part, it was a good day. No one ran away. No one was injured, by accident or on purpose. And I'm pretty sure each of the counselors walked away with their sanity intact. I know I did. I'll admit, it was touch and go on the return bus trip. I ended up having to change seats in order to keep one of my precious angels from hitting another. Repeatedly. Other than that, uneventful.

We have six more weeks to go. Which really means we have 10 more field trips. Because during week seven, we do a trip every single day. That is gonna be a crazy kind of week. Insanity may run rampant among the grown-ups.