Mission Accomplished!

The kids are on spring break this week. Since the fourth grade social studies curriculum is based around the history of California, we decided to go see a Mission. I took the kids to a Mission back in February, when the girl's class started studying them. She had to pick a Mission to write a report, do a power point presentation and write journal entries on. In the past, they have also had to build a replica of the Mission they chose. At the kids school building the Mission is now extra credit. Evidently, the parents were getting to involved and the creative process and building of the Mission wasn't actually done by the kids. I remember building the Mission with my Dad, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. So, the girl, her friend C and her Mom and the boy and I went on a field trip. We went to a Mission that still has an active church. I hadn't been to this Mission since I was the girl's age on a class field trip. It was a lot of fun. They have self guided tours. Here's a view of the Mission from the fields below it.

In the beautiful courtyard garden. It was so lovely and peaceful. They still have horse troughs and rain reservoirs from the 1800's in it.

The kids in front of the altar.

This baptismal fount is also original to the church. It is made out of stone and is still in use today.

This is adobe brick on the floor of the Mission. some have paw prints on them. When the adobe bricks are left to cure in the sun, sometimes animals walk on them and leave a print. Once we found this one on the floor, the kids wandered around the church looking for additional paw prints. We found quite a few. Since these bricks have been here since the early 1800's, we enjoyed seeing prints that are over 200 years old.

After touring the Mission, we went through the charming little town and stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. Once we got home, the girl went off to her friend C's house and the boy and I had an appt. with his orthopedic surgeon. The boy's legs are doing good and he doesn't have to go back for six more months. All and all, a great day!