hope

today was field trip day.

it is one of the biggest days of fourth grade.

we loaded a bus at 7am and ventured to jefferson city!



our state capital!

i'm glad i was able to go on this field trip.
it helped me keep my mind off of today...
to make it feel like a regular day, filling with new memories...
many memories...eleven hours worth of memories with sam.

sam and i shared the camera during our adventures around the capital today.
here are some of sam's eighty-something pictures...

a cannon

civil war memorabilia

1st state flag of missouri

i have absolutely no clue what this is or where the picture was taken!

some diorama

more weapons

fingers and floors found frequently amongst the pictures

the rotunda ceiling through sam's lens



lewis and clark statue

today was a beautiful day in the capital...

missouri river

dogwood tree

tulips were blooming everywhere

everything has started to pop and begin blooming in the past week...
just like it did three years ago.

and that makes me sad.
i know that sounds so childlike, but there are no other words to explain this feeling.
this knot that moves from my stomach up to my throat and somehow finds it's
way out through the tears pouring from my eyes.

as these tears swell and subside, i am thankful for the beauty of today.
i am thankful that i got to spend the day with thirty two 4th graders and sixteen adults!
i am hopeful that tomorrow with be another beautiful spring day.
and i have faith that on this day next year, it will be easier...
♥

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in

the soul and sings the tune

without the words and never stops...

at all. 

~Emily Dickinson