The first day of our 3 day outdoor classroom event last month was held at Crazy Head Springs near Ashland, Montana. It was the perfect location and a good time was had by all. I always love this kind of event and this was no exception.
During the course of the day I bonded with a little guy from one of the schools. He was very sweet and very smart and very interested in learning about conservation. As the day progressed, Quinn and I talked more and more and he introduced me to "My Bude" (pronounced Buddy), which was a Pokemon toy.
Somehow my son missed the Pokemon craze, so this was the first one I'd ever seen. It was a funny looking toy, but Quinn was extremely fond of it because his mom had gotten it for him. After lunch, Quinn and a friend were playing tag in the meadow. As we prepared to break up into groups again Quinn came up to me with a stricken look on his face. He had lost Bude!! We began looking for it, but because classes were starting again, Quinn had to leave to go to the water monitoring station. I kept looking.
I looked and I looked and I looked, but still no Bude. I widened my search grid and kept looking. During breaks Quinn came over and helped. Several of the chaperones joined in the search and still no Bude. You could tell that Quinn was upset, but still he wanted to learn about conservation. I felt so bad for him.
It was nearly time for the day to end when I spotted Bude! I could swear I'd walked that area fifteen times and hadn't seen him, but there he was. I picked him up and hurried over to where Quinn was. The smile on his face lit up the world. I kid you not, you could probably have seen it from Mars. He hugged me and thanked me a dozen times. I felt like I'd given him the universe.
We said our goodbyes and he hugged me and thanked me again. It felt so good to have been able to help him find his Bude.
Imagine how great I felt when I got this in the mail a few weeks later. It was from Quinn, sent by his teacher.
Isn't he just the most precious child?
