Our nearly forgotten trip to the Humane Society

I almost forgot to write about our trip last month to the Humane Society of Missouri!

The kindergartners had done a school-wide service project with the school counselor, making toys for the pets at the animal shelter. Allen had donated a bunch of beige-colored fleece I had left over after a project for a friend's baby shower.

Well, when the time came to donate the toys to the shelter, Mrs. Grossman invited any kids who were interested, and their families, to come on a special "field trip" on the weekend, to present the toys and get a tour, and learn about the important work the shelter does to care for unwanted pets.

A great idea... a laid-back, weekend field trip where families are in charge of their own transportation? We are in!

We met up with the Donovans when we got there, and Allen and Nate were soon busy learning about pet overpopulation.

We met a brave and beautiful three-legged dog named Marshall, who had been rescued from an abusive owner and adopted by one of the shelter volunteers. The kids tried some exercises -- looking for ways to find homes for all the "paper pets" in the Humane Society classroom. And we took a nice tour... where Emilyn and Allen left 5 dollars each in the kitty room. It seems they are cat people, just like their grandparents (and much to Daddy's chagrin)!



It was a nice way for the kids to connect their service project with the real challenges faced every day at the animal shelter. And it's a nice, easy pace for a field trip! Tomorrow's trip, kindergartners at the zoo, promises to be not quite so laid-back! We'll blog about that one later.