Ezra (and I) got to ride on a real school bus — his first — for the Kindergarten’s first field trip last week. We went to Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark, where I’d taken him several times (with Lori, Devon and Trevor) when he was a baby and toddler, but we hadn’t been there in a few years. Here’s a picture of Ezra at 7 months the first time I took him to the farm. Check out those cheeks!!
The teachers were incredibly good at wrangling 45 very-wound-up Kindergartners; one took roll while the other briefed the chaperones on our obligations for they day. We were each assigned a few kids to keep track of — mine were Ezra and his friends, Jack and Ben. Then we shepherded everyone to the bathrooms for one last potty break before the hour-plus bus ride. Once the kids had lined up and were waiting for the bus (which was a little late), they started to get a little unruly. So Ms. Jessica had them sing their farm song. Here’s the part I caught on video. (I can’t really understand a lot of the words, but I think they are saying farm animals in English, Spanish and sign language.)
Then the bus arrived and we loaded them up. Here are my charges and the girls who sat behind them.
Once at the farm, they piled the kids and teachers onto this giant hay stack for a group picture.
After a quick snack, we moved to the outdoor classroom …
… to learn about fruits and vegetables from Farmer Kay.
Then we loaded up in wagons and went on a tractor ride through the farm. We had some picking to do.
Here’s Ezra picking some beets. He’s very choosy.
We came home with two bags filled with beets, turnips, cilantro and lettuce. Delicious.
After a break for lunch, we headed into the animal area where the kids could feed the animals. There were pigs, cows, goats, sheep, turkeys, etc., but really all the kids wanted to do was play on this thing.
Here’s Ezra coming out of the slide. It looked like a very bumpy ride to me.
Here’s Ezra in the wooden train.
And just because I’m having a nostalgic moment, here’s a shot of him playing on these wooden structures when he was two.
After that, it was time to head back to the bus for the ride home. Everyone was sufficiently hot, sweaty and tired to call it a great day and a very successful field trip.
