Happy Halloween!!! This was our first possible severe weather day, so we switched it up and did drop off at the building, with a warming run out to Kylie in the field. We walked across the rest of the field and opened our day at the tree line. We were so impressed that the children could orient themselves from a new spot to point East! They explored the area for a bit, and quickly settled into a favored location with some overgrown plants that felt hidden and a small bridge that led to an open grass area. They made fishing poles for the bridge with rope and sticks, created new bases to continue previous games, and enjoyed a variety of books at snack. We began to move back toward the building for a surprise “field trip”, but not before spotting a rat snake! We watched for awhile and discussed the shape of its kinked body, what it might feel with us so close, how it smells with its tongue, and how we looked like one giant creature because all our warm bodies were so close together! On the way back, we invited children to explore an on-site cemetery with graves so old, a Revolutionary War veteran was among them. We got a bit more than we bargained for when 3 of the children and an educator were stung by yellow jackets (who had not been present when the educators did the morning site check). Yikes! Stings were painful, and there was an initial fear reaction from most, but this was recognized as an opportunity to learn about nonhuman inhabitants of the Earth and how/why they responded to our presence. Part of this learning led us to enjoy an indoor picnic for lunch to make sure other yellow jackets in the area wouldn’t be attracted to the scent of the fresh stings and seek out our group. However, we felt confident that the yellow jacket warning pheromone had worn off, and we enjoyed the last moments of our day together playing outside.