Sheriff's Office Field Trip

I was a little trepidatious about a Monday morning field trip. We managed to roll out of the house on time and as we made our way the 30+ minutes to the destination, I hoped this was going to be worth it.

It was so worth it. 

We went to the county seat of our county to tour the sheriff's office. This includes the sheriff's office along with the county jail.

(There was a note that we would not be touring the actual jail where the inmates were kept, which was fine with all of us.)

I could not believe how kind these people were. There were at least ten officers that took us in groups all over the sheriff's office. They showed us the police cars, transport vehicles, the SWAT truck, the booking section, the holding cells, demonstrated and explained fingerprinting, showed us all of the work stations and let the kids touch and explore nearly the entire office.

I was just amazed. 

We ended the tour in the office of the Sheriff, who was such a kind man. 

It was well worth the drive on this dreary Monday. Super worth it. 

Examining some finger prints. 

Fingerprint demonstration

SWAT truck

Office of the Sheriff

Antiques in the Sheriff's office

Explaining the things in the office

There were several displays of patches from all over the country

McGruff, the Crime Dog

Someone is a little terrified of "mascots"

The inside of the back of a police car.

Two thoughts:

1. I need my van to be made like this. I could hose it out every so often. Genius.

2. I made it through the decade of debauchery without seeing the back of a police car. That is God's grace and protection over me. I spent some time thanking Him for that. 

Checking out the bullet proof vests. 

Sitting in the police car

We couldn't take pictures of the booking section and the holding cells and workstations. The kids explored and sat in jail cells. The padded cell was especially intriguing. 

In light of the sermon from the day before, I was on heightened alert about the name of Jesus. In the padded cell was scratched into the wall (by a fingernail, they said) the word "JESUS." I said, "Oh, it's the name of Jesus. How amazing to see that there!"

They laughed and said, "That was probably a man named 'Jesus' (Hay-SOOS)" 

Oh. Okay. 

Well, I tried. 

And at least we talked about Jesus for that minute, right? (and we laughed)

After the field trip we ate at Steak and Shake before we ran our errands. I mean, field trips are celebrations, right? And we had to celebrate with shakes right? 

I think we just wanted shakes. And grilled cheeses. 

We were happy!