Field Trip Friday: The Alamo

It's Field Trip Friday, a chance for you to get involved and tell everyone in the blogosphere about an exciting field trip you went on this week or one of your all time favorite field trips!

Of course, if you already posted a fun field trip on your blog you're welcome to link that too.

We drove and drove and drove to get there but when we finally arrived, we loved it! Welcome to this week's Field Trip Friday: The Alamo! Woo hoo! My kids were so excited to go they didn't even complain about the drive from Alabama! And believe me when I tell you it was a loooooong one!

Last year the kids took a history class about Texas gaining their independence and when the teacher suggested visiting the Alamo, the wheels in their heads began to turn.

Since we'd already spent time learning about this period in history, I didn't feel we needed to go everything again but we did enjoy this YouTube video by Marty Robbins. The boys loved it and watched it several times.

Battle of the Alamo - Marty Robbins | Music Videos | SPIKE.com

We also enjoyed watching several movies including the 1995 miniseries based on James Michener's novel, Texas, the story of how Texas became a state.

When we arrived in San Antonio, it was too late to tour the Alamo but my friend, Melissa of Discovering US, another family on the road, had suggested that we stop anyway just to see it lit up at night. We had intended to, but something was going on downtown and the police had one block closed off so we had to take a detour and our GPS kept routing us back to the same spot which was a bit frustrating. By the time we arrived, we'd pretty much lost interest and just wanted to get to the hotel.

The following morning we got an early start and arrived right at 9:00 a.m. when the doors open. After taking the customary picture, we began our visit to the Alamo in the Shrine. No photos were allowed here as it is a memorial to the men that lost their lives in the battle. We enjoyed listening to a guide describe the details of the battle over a diorama that depicted what the mission looked like at that time. We also saw a Bowie knife, items that had belonged to Davy Crockett, and the room that housed the women and children during the battle. None of the women or children were injured during the fighting and Santa Ana ordered their release after the battle and instructed them to go and tell everyone they met about the battle that took place. That's how the saying "Remember the Alamo" came to be.

After stopping by the gift shop and walking around the grounds we stopped in the barracks to watch the short 15 minute movie that was shown. We found it interesting to learn that the barracks were where the final battle took place, not the Shrine. The remainder of the barracks is also a museum which details that battle.

If you are able to visit the Alamo, I'd highly recommend that you allow 2- 2 1/2 hours, which will give you plenty of time to enjoy the Ranger led discussions and programs and thoroughly explore the grounds. I'd also encourage you to go as soon as it opens, it looks as though it gets busy rather quickly. If you have children between 5-10 they can participate in the Young Couriers program.

Well, there you have it...the lo down on the Alamo. Now it's your turn. Have a field trip to share? Link up below and remember to stop back next week and I'll post about the stop we made in Louisiana. Until next week...Happy Field Trippin'!

Playing in the Mud: Crater of Diamonds State Park

Last Friday my family embarked on our whirlwind Texas vacation. Though the Lone Star State was where we planned to spend the majority of our time, I'd still planned outings to and from. After all, who could stand a 15 hour drive one way without breaks? Not I, that's for sure! Especially since I'm the one that does all the driving.

Though originally we had decided to take our motor home, when we calculated how much gas was going to cost we decided it'd be better on the budget if we left it parked this time and rented a car. So, we packed lightly, loaded the rented HHR and off we went. Other than the incident crossing the Mississippi line, everything was uneventful. I did make a mental note not to give our dog the calming pills again before jumping in the car. Clearly they did not agree with him. It did generate quite a bit of laughter though.



We drove about 6 hours to Little Rock, Arkansas where I had reserved a room for the night. We woke up early the next morning, grabbed fruit and muffins from the continental breakfast and hit the road again. This time our destination was the Crater of Diamonds State Park where we hoped to strike it rich.



Located an hour and a half from the interstate, according to the website, Crater of Diamonds "...is the only diamond producing site in the world that is open to the public."

It was clear as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, wearing our jeans and sneakers, we were not dressed for success. We saw other treasure hunters entering the field in waders and rubber boots and it soon became clear why they were dressed that way. The field was a mud pit!



We purchased our tickets, watched a short film about diamond hunting and hit the field armed with our bucket, trowels, spades and baggies that I'd packed just for the occasion.

Clearly we'd underestimated just how muddy the field was but the word quicksand quickly came to mind as the mud seemed to grab hold of my tennis shoes and pull with each step we took.

Since I had to warm up to the idea of playing in the mud, I decided to take a quick walk first before jumping in. My daughter joined me and we walked the 1.2 mile Prospector Trail, before joining the guys in the field where they were hard at work.



It wasn't long before our shoes and bottoms of our jeans were completely mud covered. The mud had managed to suck off my daughter's shoes and though I'd tightened my laces, I managed to lose one of mine as well. My daughter gave up and went barefoot, allowing the mud to ooze through her toes.

It got much worse!

After a few hours of searching and not finding any diamonds (I did find a cool crystal) we were ready to call it quits. Though we weren't able to fund our retirement here, we did have a great time. We agreed that personally we wouldn't want to search the fields all day, and a couple hours at this stop was just right. I guess we aren't very serious about striking it rich afterall, are we?

Fortunately there is a hose where you can spray off your gear and person upon exiting the field. We were certainly in for a shock though! The water was so cold, and sprayed out with such force that it actually hurt against your skin!



If you visit Crater of Diamonds, my suggestion would be to make sure that you pack rubber boots and a change of clothing. It would also be nice to take along a gem guide because you'll find more than diamonds here. If you don't have one available they can be purchased in the gift shop.

I have to share the funniest thing I heard at Crater of Diamonds! A father was walking into the field with his little boy that appeared to be about four, scolding him for getting dirty! Hello, dad! Do you really think you can take a 4 year old little boy into a mud pit and he won't get dirty? Yeah, right!!!

Next stop, Texas...

I Did It!

Well, I can't take credit for it. This is actually the work of my son who was serving on camera duty. After missing it the first time around, though we had a good laugh about that one. My kids were not excited to get out and stand beside the sign though and I have to admit that by this point in the trip, I was not at all interested in stopping.

How about a blog hop?

Well, we're back from our whirlwind trip and though I can't wait to tell you all about it, I have a few other obligations like grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning the rental car before I can really focus on adding updates.

So...in the meantime...I thought I'd participate in this week's blog hop hosted by Kylie at Our Worldwide Classroom. This is one homeschoolers will love! So if you're looking for some new bloggy friends or you're interested in finding some new homeschooling blogs, why not check out some of these?

So for now I'm off the computer and busy sweeping SAND out of the car...I still can't figure out how we managed to spread it everywhere....

As Good as it Gets...

Sadly, this is my best state line picture. Can you believe we missed Mississippi? Arkansa? Texas? and finally got this in Louisiana? Not quite the picture I had in mind and yes, believe it or not, I did crop it to get a better look! Oh well, we should have another chance sometime down the road.

Besides, I'd pass up that photo any day for one that looks like this:



Looks like my kids were a bit bored on the drive...