Here is a baby Chinchilla peeking out of it’s home.

Here one of the parent Chinchilla takes a sand bath.

We were not allowed to pet these ones because of the babies but there was another chinchilla that we were able to pet. It was very soft.

This is a rat, which are very friendly animals to have for pets.

I can’t remember what this was- a small gerbil?

We moved on to the cold blooded animal area, where the snakes and lizards hang out.

This is one of the snakes there- it will grow to be nine feet long. It was just starting the molting process and couldn’t be handled.

The bearded dragon, which originally came from Australia but are now being bred in captivity, being fed.

Two lizards watching us watch them. Can you see the second one? You can make the thumbnail larger by clicking on it.

We then moved on to the fish area and saw some rare species of fish from the Amazon. The kids also got to touch a catfish, see a turtle and lots of other animals.

There are still a couple of weeks left so call Janet to see if there are any open slots.

First we browsed the store. They have many of their items for sale plus specialty foods from other local retailers. It’s arranged in a very pretty way.

This is where they mix the batches that are going to be bottled. We weren’t able to go into it today as they were making a Dijon mustard with horseradish which is very strong smelling. We could smell it standing outside the room.

(Note: You can click on the thumbnails to make them larger.)

The line is very interesting, first there is a person getting the bottles standing up and ready to go then they go to a sanitizing machine. Here are the jars being filled with mustard.

Then the jars move on to have the caps, labels and plastic seals put on. The seals are then heated to shrink them tight and the use by date is stamped on. Then they are boxed up, ready to ship. We were able to hold a bottle right off the line and it was still warm.

Then we were able to go to the development kitchen and talk to the lady that develops new recipes. She showed us what yellow and brown mustard looks like. Here is brown mustard seeds.

Here is what mustard looks like as it grows. It is considered a weed.

I like this one so I am adding it for fun.

We were told some great stories of how the business got started and how it has changed over the years. It was a great field trip!

This is the small holding cell used when they can’t take a prisoner to the county jail right away.

It’s small and without windows. Right next to it, a small bit is visible in the photo, is the police dog’s kennel. It’s where the narcotics sniffing dog stays when he is on duty and at the police station.

The inside of the building was fairly unexciting but then we went outside and the fun began.

Here are the unclaimed stolen bikes awaiting auction.

Here is the D.A.R.E. car that was confiscated from a drug dealer and put to good use.

The children got to see the insides of a police car. They could see all the radios, radars and other equipment up close and personal.

Here the Chief shows us a Spike Strip or Tire Deflation Device. It flattens tires and stops the bad guys in their tracks.

We were able to climb into the bullet proof SWAT vehicle.

Then the Police Chief and an uniformed officer show us what each officer has to carry and wear while on duty.

The Chief spent time answering questions. He stated that a police officer uses advanced reading comprehension, writing and math skills daily. He also answered questions about the Day Time Curfew ordinance and gang activity.

It was a fun, informative time.

Click on thumbnails to see a larger copy.

The kids had great fun feeding and watching them.

It was great weather and a wonderful time!

The group went on to tour a food processing plant but no cameras were allowed inside so there are no photos of it. Maybe there is a young (or youngish) person out there who would be willing to write in and tell us all about that tour.

After walking through the seed cleaning area- and up and down three flights of stairs- we wandered over to where the seed is put into smaller bags for shipping.

After the seed is cleaned it is put into large bags. These bags hold about a ton of seed. There it waits until the test results come back. If there is too much weed seed or dirt in a batch then it is re-cleaned. It is much easier to empty out the large bags of seed than open a lot of small ones. If the batch tests clean then it is brought over to a machine that puts it into smaller bags.

The man is putting the bags on to be filled and oversees the machine sewing the 50 lb. bags shut. The bags then go up the blue elevator and onto a conveyor belt.

The bag is slid into this arm (blue and white thing) which stacks the bags, in an alternating pattern, onto a pallet. Once the pallet is full, it drops down to where it is wrapped in shrink wrap in preparation to be shipped.

At the end, all the children were allowed to fill bags with seed to take home.

We had a great time learning about cleaning seed. But the day was not over yet! We went to a park to enjoy our lunch. I’ll be posting photos of that later!

Usually a member sets up the field trip, arranges for tours, designates a meeting place, gives directions to the location, and receives RSVP’s about who is planning to attend. (Informal car-pool arrangements can be made between families if desired.)

Some trips require more travel time than others; some trips combine two or more activities. Occasionally there are joint field trips with other homeschool groups.

Recent field trips have included visiting windmills, a fish ladder, a mustard factory, a pottery factory, the Let ‘er Buck museum, fire station and the hospital.

Rarely do field trips cost money (other than travel). Many museums and facilities waive their fees for educational purposes, but others do not. Families may attend one event or actitivty while trying to decide whether to join PHSA.

RSVP’s are always appropriate.