field trip

today was e's first field trip... EVER! (e loves to add this to the end of any sentence so i will follow suit since this post is about her.) these california schools do things a little bit differently than they did back in my day. back in my day...

i'll spare you the "back in my day" story and just stick to the facts. schools out here don't use buses. they don't use buses for getting kids to school each day. they don't use buses for getting kids home from school each day. and so it should come as no surprise that they also don't use buses for getting kids to or from field trips. that leaves you with the following options.

option a) sign a form and then put your kiddos car seat into the car of some other parent to take them to and from the field trip

or

option b) drive your kiddo to school, check them out of school for the day and then drive them (without any siblings in tow) to the field trip destination.

or

option c) present your california drivers license (which i don't have yet... and that's a whole different post), your california insurance (again... don't have yet), get approved by the district and then load up your car with other people's kiddos and chaperon them on the trip.

option c was ruled out for us from the jump, and option a felt creepy and scary as i don't really "know" any other parents. even if i did, i'm not sure i'd choose it... but option b presented its own issues as i do in fact have two other children who are apparently unwelcome on class trips. (seriously, how do parents around here hold down jobs?)

and so today was a "first" for more than one reason. miss poppy was away from her mommy for the first time... EVER with our new, very capable sitter. and mommy and miss e were footloose and fancy free at alden lane nursery.

and isn't she the perfect pumpkin? i think so. they made this sign just for her, right?

it was a really fun day for lots of reasons. there were pumpkins, and pumpkins are always fun. e got to be the line leader and we all know that's fun. we learned about walnuts, walnut trees and the process of washing and shelling walnuts. that was pretty cool. we also learned about tons of native plants and what their uses are. momma finally got to see her girl "in action" so to speak and was reassured that our girlie is doing a-ok with this kindergarten thing (as we suspected). momma also got to see the trouble makers first hand and make a mental list of who we might like to be arranging play dates with. and as an extra bonus, momma met a bunch of other mommas who were all pretty nice. icing on the cake... e got to select her very own pumpkin to bring home. now who wouldn't have fun on that trip?

and as for poppy? she was just fine without me.