Our First Field Trip

Last week Will went on his and I chaperoned my very first school field trip.  When I heard this field trip would be to an oil ranch I was thrilled; my goal is to expose myself and my kids to as much of Texas as possible while we live here, and visiting an oil ranch sounded like a not-to-be-missed, authentically Texas experience.  Turns out an oil ranch is not the same thing as the Oil Ranch, where we'd be spending our day...

At the Oil Ranch (located in Hockley, which is about an hour from College Station and 30 minutes from Houston), the kids had a fantastic time riding ponies, petting and feeding goats and sheep, riding the OIL Express train, and playing on both the indoor haystack and the outdoor playground.  If we'd had more time, the kids would've also enjoyed the hayride, visiting an Indian village, running through the stockyard maze, playing miniature golf, and milking a cow.  And if it hadn't been FREEZING outside (it was chilly to begin with, but the day was also humid and windy and those three conditions combined to create ugly and uncomfortable weather for the first half of the day.  At one point I lost feeling in two of my fingers, they were so cold), the kids could have even gone swimming.

Will pretended to lasso an imaginary animal throughout his entire ride.

Still lassoing.

My group - Elsbeth, Zoe, Ben, and Will - waiting in line for the train.

Will and Ben on a huge tractor wheel. 

Will's turn to "drive" the tractor.

Mrs. Pratt's kindergarten class at the Oil Ranch (Will's sitting in the front
row, third from the right - in true Texas fashion, he's completely bundled up). 

Getting ready to head home, and looking a little windblown.

So while the venue was fun for all - we may even make a trip back as a family for either their Halloween/fall or Christmas/winter festivities - and Will and I enjoyed spending the day together, I didn't learn a darn thing about oil ranches.