I was so excited to get to drive on Jacob field trip on Wednesday. Rain was threatening but nothing can stop a 4 year old preschool class! After loading a bunch of boosters into the car we were off to 119th and 71st. street.
Mrs. Saunders was kind enough to give us a sheet with directions to the Dairy Farm, but suggested we get off Kellogg and go South on Ridge Road instead. She thought it would get us there without the dirt roads. Maybe it was the 4 yr. old boys in the backseat, the rain, or the construction on Kellogg, but it didn't really occur to me at the time that Ridge Road doesn't go South all that easily. We ended up driving around the airport before I realized my mistake. The kids were excited to see the planes and one boy thought we were going to fly one to get to the farm. Not quite that far away kid...I think. My first time driving for his class and I was going to be that last one there. And you know the kids would mention that we were at the airport. How embarrassing! Well, I used my common sense, and the GPS (love that), and we arrived safely at the farm. We were actually one of the first cars there. Everybody had gotten lost with the new set of directions, and Jacob's teacher was incredibly embarrassed (at least it wasn't me).
We started off to see the pig races. They had names like Hamhock, This Little Piggy, and Babe. When the lady asked if we could name the fourth pig, I suggested the name Lunch. It didn't go over so well. Strike one on my sense of humor for the day.
After the pig races it was off to see how they milk the cows. Farmer Dave showed the kids how they used to manually milk the cows and then hooked ol' Bessie up to her special milk pumper. Eeek! It looked like a torture device but she didn't seem to mind. He explained how it worked and I felt the need to try another joke. "Just like a cow Medela!" One mother gave a little chuckle but Farmer Dave didn't look impressed. Strike two!! Then he let the kids put their thumbs in one of the little pumpers so they could test out its suction. I got to wondering about Farmer Dave and the pumper, but that it for another blog.
All the kids had fun at the petting zoo portion of the farm. We got to see lambs, kids (baby goats that is), bunnies, and chickens. Jacob had the most fun playing jail in the pen. Who needs animals when there is a good jail around? Of course, given Jacob's outgoing personality, he soon had the whole class in the jail, while us parents stood around petting the little animals.
We booked it through the pumpkin patch, as we were running late because of our late start. I had Jacob pick out a cute little pumpkin, although most of the kids picked out the biggest one they could find.
Finally they got to my personal favorite part of the field trip...the ice cream bars. Sure it was freezing outside, but I'm never too cold for icecream. I'm not quite sure why they served ice cream bars, probably has to do with the DAIRY farm.
Whew! What a day. Cold, but the rain mostly held off. I was so excited that I got a chance to drive and see how Jacob interacts with his class. The kids were so cute and had such a good time. I really felt blessed that I get the chance to stay home with my kids, and volunteer at his school for trips like this. And thanks to Greg for watching the two little ones so I could go without chasing them around.
Farmer Dave and the Milking Machine is my new favorite story of yours ;o)
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