This past weekend we took a family field trip as part of an assignment for our 10 year old's class. What I thought would be a chore actually turned out to be fun.

For his assignment, he chose to visit a mission. He initially chose a mission in San Luis Obispo, but it was too far for a day trip so he opted for The Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. 

The mission was founded in 1771 as the fourth of what would become 21 Spanish missions in California. The grounds included a museum, gift shop, cemetery, and an elementary and high school.

With so much to take in, it was hard to be bored. We'd forgotten how much rich history lies in California.  

It was nice to go somewhere we we weren't being consumers. Instead of dishing out money, we were taking in some knowledge. It was such a wonderful day that we have decided to take quarterly family field trips a part of our routine with each kid picking a local educational/historical spot they'd like to visit. And of course, our 4th grader has already made his choice: the LaBrea Tar Pits. 

Looking forward to where these family field trips take us.

*The highlight of the trip had to be when our little kindergartner got to ring the main church bell. For email/feed readers, click here if you can't see the video.