Field Trip Day

Yesterday could have been a scheduling nightmare, but ended up a really nice day. I wanted to attend the monthly meeting of the Saratoga Integrative Practitioners Network, which takes place at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, in the morning. My son, Tristan had rock climbing team practice at Rocksport in Glens Falls in the evening. The two things were 20 minutes away from each other, but both over 45 minutes from here. No way I was doing that trip twice in one day.

Thanks to a suggestion from the brilliant Annie Gregson, we had a wonderful, although long, day in the Glens Falls area. We put Tristan in the expansive children's area in the library, where he used the computers to work on his lessons, read for awhile, then entertained himself by riding up and down in the elevator, pushing the floor buttons for people like an old-time lift man. At least he was contained.

We spent the afternoon at the World Awareness Children's Museum in Glens Falls. Annie knows the creator  and wanted to see it. It was worth the trip. They have art, textiles, toys and other things from cultures around the world. The art is all created by children. The best thing is it's almost all there to be touched, tried on and played with. Tristan had a great time sitting on a cushion in the Japanese Room playing with chopsticks.

He banged the drum, then pretended to paddle the Dragon Boat.

He put on a puppet show with puppets from China.

He tried on clothes from the Middle East, Africa and Japan. His favorite exhibit was the Nigerian Marketplace, where he filled market baskets with food (and Annie played right along with him).

The museum is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. I can imagine a group of kids playing creatively for hours.

Inspired by the Japanese Room, Tristan consumed two tuna rolls at a sushi restaurant, then we took him to climbing practice. Last night, I put a pretty exhausted kid to bed. That is a successful day.