Vamos a Fantástico Mundo! -- We're going to Fantastic World!

Written by Megan Hettwer

This past Friday, Abriendo Mentes made an exciting announcement to its English class students- there would be a field trip to Fantastic World this weekend! Sunday February 20th finally arrived and 50 students, parents and volunteers met bright and early at the A.M. office to hop on a bus and head out of Potrero for a day full of fun. Thanks to generous support from Bahia del Sol and Elizabeth Cole and transportation provided by Las Catalinas Development, Abriendo Mentes was able to take the children to nearby Fantastic World- home to many different types of inflatables (some even boasting water!). Full of energy, the kids boarded the bus with anticipation for the great day ahead of us.

Despite their intense excitement, the students patiently waited in line

We arrived at Fantastic World around 10:00 am. The children quickly changed into their bathing suits and ran to the back of the park, toward the inflatables with water. A break from the heat was just what everyone needed! The giant waterslide was a huge hit, and the kids barreled down it at top speeds.

Racing toward the giant waterslide!

It's hard to tell from pictures, but this slide was fast!

The dragon slide and pool were also popular. Luckily, we had volunteer Emily to monitor how many kids were on the slide at once- too many and the inflatable might collapse! We also used the trip to continue working on the action words we had practiced in class throughout the week. The kids had a great time showing and telling us how to swim, jump, bounce, and slide. It's amazing how well they retain information when they can use their knowledge to talk about activities that they enjoy.

The dragon may look a bit scary, but looks can be deceiving!

The pool at the bottom of the dragon slide was very cool and refreshing

The students spent the morning excitedly running around from one inflatable to the next, playing happily with each other and all of the volunteers. After everyone was done eating lunch the volunteers and parents began rounding up the kids to return home. The students obediently boarded the bus to head back to Potrero, noticeably sleepier then they were when we had arrived . . .

Melissa had so much fun she fell asleep on the bus ride home

As the bus dropped everyone off in Potrero, all of the students thanked A.M. profusely for putting on such a fun field trip. But, we couldn't have done it without all of the help and support we received from Bahia del Sol, Elizabeth Cole and Las Catalinas Development. Thanks for making this field trip so wonderful!

Everyone had a blast!