Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center

Can a school field trip count as a Take Off Tuesday? I think so! I chaperoned Coleman's class field trip today to the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center. Ida was kind enough to provide the wet, nasty weather for us, which put a damper on the day. (I slay myself!)

But we had a great time indoors! Our guide is the husband of one of the teachers at our school and he was fantastic. We learned about Georgia's keystone species (a term I'd never heard before) and made a mini ecosystem starting with an alligator wallow.

Playing in the dirt=FUN! Wriggling plastic snakes in Ms. Braun's face=NOT FUN. (Well, not fun for ME!)

There was a hike planned which was unfortunately canceled because of the weather. However, our guide "snuck" us out onto the bridge and talked about the ecology of the area and how the building was built green.

We chaperones were just glad it was a covered bridge. Thankfully none of my charges fell in the water!

From the bridge we walked through the rain to see the pitcher plants near the back of the building. These plants are carnivorous and "eat" insects. We brought one in and sliced it open so the kids could see inside the flower. It was full of half-decomposed flies and other bugs. Awesome!

See all that black gunk? Bug guts!

Although all of the kids were disappointed about the hike, we still had a good time. This was Coleman's first field trip and I was glad to tag along for the (bus) ride!