Springfield, VA (USA)

[because Mollie had asked me to chaperone a field trip today, I got permission to work from home - round 0800, I picked up some breakfast at McDonalds - it was raining bit by the time I arrived at Mark Twain Middle School - checked in and found the cafeteria, where Mollie and her teacher were waiting - the room filled up soon after that (LOTS of middle schoolers - yikes!) - I ended up with about 10 kids in my group - I had forgotten about what it was like to be in middle school but their behavior brought it all back quickly (especially when we got on the bus) - part of me was afraid to lose any of the kids (especially when they wandered off every time there was a chance) - eventually, I gave up and Mollie helped me whenever roll calls were required (it all worked out) - the busses took us to Accotink Lake Park, where we met up with several George Mason University students - they took us through a series of science stations - at each one, the kids were supposed to fill out a worksheet with information that was discussed (e.g., water quality from measuring equipment, types of aquatic macro-invertebrates, geo-caching, biodiversity, trees/leaves, etc.) - some of the instructors were real characters (not sure if the kids could tell) - I enjoyed my time with the kids and was pleased to discover another park to hike in (with the Accotink Stream Cross Country Trial - see FEB 2015) - fortunately, the rain held off for the whole field trip - rode back on the bus and said goodbye to Mollie - got a haircut (first in three months) at 1345 - headed back to the apartment to finished up my telework day - around dinner time, I got a text from Erin that she wanted to go to the movies to see "Insurgent" - picked her and Mollie at around 1900 and went to the Regal Cinemas in Kingstown around 1945 - they treated me, actually (nice!) - finished up around 2200 and dropped off the kids - what a good day!]