Field Trip Friday

Aside from our trip three day trip to Philadelphia earlier this month, field trips have been much less common this year than has been the norm for us. In some cases, I decide against a particular field trip just because I'm not a big fan of driving, and I am doing a lot more driving than usual due to supervising student teachers. On my days "off" from that, I don't really want to get in the car and drive to any place farther than 20 minutes from our house. I'm hoping to make up for lost time and take them on more field trips than usual from May through August. Today's field trip involved two hours of driving (round trip), but because we had really enjoyed the program the last two times we went (spring and fall of 2017), I decided to take the kids to Bald Eagle State Park today. The four hour program for homeschoolers is run by students from Penn State University. The forecast had looked almost ideal - high of 58 and sunny, but the reality was that it was around 43 degrees and raining. Thankfully it only rained at the beginning and the end of our time there. We had a few hours that were

dry albeit still cloudy and chilly. The kids didn't seem to mind. I am not a fan of cold weather so I admit I spent some time in the van reading a book I had brought. The kids were divided into groups. Nadia and Ian were in the same group so I spent more time with Oliver's group than theirs. They rotated through six different stations (30 minutes at each) plus had time for eating lunch, playing with Frisbees, etc. Ian and Oliver both agreed that their two favorite stations were the frog pond (where they retrieved animals from a pond with a net, identified them and put them back in the water) and a recycling relay race. In the relay race they had to pick an object from a pile (such a soda can) and put it into one of four bins: compost, repurpose, recycle, or trash.

The most unpleasant part of the day was when I opened the mail this afternoon. Oliver's ER visit plus hospitalization cost us $320.78, which was less than I was anticipating it might be. I paid a $20 co-pay to have his stitches removed at the Pediatrician's office and $45 to see the neurosurgeon four weeks later. I seriously considered cancelling that appointment because I didn't think it was worth $45 and the time to drive there and

back to be asked "does he seem to be back to normal?". As truly that was the extent of the doctor's "examination". Today I learned I absolutely made the wrong decision. If I could go back in time, I would skip the follow-up appointment as today we received a "facility fee" of $147 for that two minute appointment. The insurance paid the rest of the doctor's fee (beyond the $45 we paid as the co-pay) and now the hospital wants an additional $147 for the fact we occupied an exam room for less than five minutes?!?  So we paid $320 for a

visit that lasted about 30 hours and now owe an additional $192 for less than five minutes. My initial estimate when we were sitting in the ER was that it would likely cost us at least $500, and it turns out I was right, as in the end the sledding accident cost us $505.78. I will try to avoid scheduling any appointments at that hospital in the future if at all possible. Part of the issue is because we switched health insurance on March 1. It doesn't help us as a family, but it is saving Paul's company money for the kids and I to be on insurance through the university instead of Paul's job.

I took the one close-up of Nadia today to show that she lost a tooth yesterday. Unfortunately it was a baby tooth that doesn't have a permanent one to replace it. So hopefully the other teeth will shift over and fill in that gap! As usual, the "tooth fairy" was forgetful last night. Thankfully, we have taken care of it today. Our kids are pretty accustomed to the fact that we usually forget. Oliver hasn't lost any teeth yet. Hopefully we won't forget when he loses his first tooth!