Day 2....Technically

Our first two days of the trip really blended together (due to a sleepless flight through the night) but both contained a lot of activities.

Once we arrived in Wahpeton, we headed straight for the Circle of Nations school.  They are AWESOME and allow us to stay in their dorms for free.  RJ Rabbithead is the man with the plan and my go-to person for setting up our arrangements at the school.  They had games out for us and rooms ready; we are always so grateful to them.  

I let the kiddos run around the dorm, and outside on the playground, for a bit - it helped to get the blood flowing for the rest of the day.  

Our next stop was my dad's house.  He and Judy were nice enough to put a little breakfast together for us :)  We love them.  Fun tidbit - all the students call my Dad 'Appa' - which is Yupik for 'Grandpa' 

We had a little time before we needed to head out to the Bagg Bonanza Farm, so I took the students down to Kidder Recreation Area to meet 'Whopper' the worlds largest catfish.

'Whopper' Selfie :)

After taking pics with 'Whopper' Raymond decided we needed to take a walk and explore the area down by the river.  It was a nice cool morning so we all agreed and welcomed the fresh air.  We meandered around the Kidder Recreation Area and they had fun looking at the trees (and climbing a few ;) 

Two monkeys in a tree!

After exploring Kidder for a bit we walked back to our van and headed out to the Bagg Bonanza Farm, right outside of Wahpeton.

Now, a few people have given me a 'weird' look and said, 'Why are you taking them to the Bagg Farm?!'  

Well to those people I usually say, 'Why NOT?!'  The Bagg Farm is such a cool location, it's close to Wahpeton, and I think it's a great educational opportunity for the students to compare/contrast what farms were like earlier in history to what they are now.  Since none of my student have ever been close to a farm, this is a huge learning opportunity!  Seriously, 'Of Mice and Men' made 10x more sense to my students after being on a farm.  Teaching opportunities all around :)

We got there and immediately the students were shocked at how BIG the farm was.  My Dad joined us and we had a lovely tour.  There was a lot of picture taking and open mouths.  They even found a robin's nest! (full of BLUE eggs - woah) 

This is the dinning table in the bunk house!  The students thought it might be a great addition to our school!

Wagon + robin's nest = adorable picture :)

After exploring the Bagg Farm, Dad took us over to Kendall and Sue Prochnow's cow/pig farm.  They are the nicest people, and we are so grateful that they allow the students to come and explore their farm.  Chris Prochnow (family member) always gets roped into giving us the grand tour - he's a great sport about it and full of information for the students.

Chris and Dad showing them the cows 

 Up close and personal with the animals!

Every year, the favorite activity from the farm is holding a pig.  This year was no different :) 

Group shot!  By the tractor of course 

After petting pigs, riding tractors, exploring soy bean fields, and discussing cows....it was time to head back to Wahpeton.  Chris gave all of the students hats, and let me tell you....they didn't stop wearing them after they got them!  So nice!   

Modeling their new hats

While loading everyone up, handing out hats, etc, Chris mentioned that this is the quietest group I've brought down.  While this is partially true, due to their size (only 5 compared to 11/14 students from the last trips) a lot of it had to do with the fact that at this point, we had all been up for at least 36 hrs!!  They were holding in there though!  

Our last activity for the day (can't believe we could actually squeeze anything else in!) was bowling!!  This is another favorite activity, mainly due to the fact that they have never done it before!  There are no bowling alleys in the area, and if they go to Anchorage...it's usually doesn't make the Top 10 Things to do in Anchorage list.  


Now the reason I included the picture below is because they lied to me.  Somehow these little sneaks must have been practicing their bowling skills because they were rocking it!  LOTS of strikes and spares.  I couldn't believe it!!

They are super tired but had a lot of fun bowling and showing off their amazing skills.  

We survived this very long day!!  Needless to say they were really quiet as soon as we made it back to Circle of Nations.  Not a peep throughout the night.  

Onward to Day 3 and Medora, ND!!