field trip

Everyone say apple!  Aiden is screaming apple third from the left:

The glamourous life of a stay at home mom includes going on field trips!  In my mind, I think any opportunity to be part of something going on in Aiden's school is a luxury and I must do it.  I signed up early to be a chaperone for the apple farm trip because I knew it was a popular volunteer opportunity.  I also knew the teachers had their go-to people already lined up, so I was sorta in a "hey, pick me, pick me!" frenzy to be sure I could go.  (Note: I probably would've just shown up even if they hadn't picked me - only kidding - sorta)

Well, it turns out that being a chaperone is hard work.  Seriously, I thought it was going to be all fun and games, maybe just mildly complicated by my nursing giant infant.  I drove an hour with Aiden and his buddy cracking knock knock jokes (which usually end with something "on your head" and each one made them erupt with laughter and even KC joined in the giggles) and I thought that this seemed pretty fun... But when we finally got to the country, we hopped out into the muddy parking lot...

Here's where the field trip story rides off the rails a bit: The only trees with apples to pick were on the other side of a 10 foot wide creek/river, which was passable by a "balance beam" - um, ooh boy, I still cannot believe that no one fell into that water!  I nearly fell in myself - with KC strapped in his ergo! Right after we got over the balance beam act and had our buckets about half full of apples, two boys I was "in charge" of needed to go potty, of course!   We hiked back over the moat with them dragging their big buckets and made it to the port-o-potties (ick) just in time.

Eating lunch in the pretty orchard seemed like a great idea, until the bees showed up!  The big walnut pods are very dirty... and slippery... I could hardly watch as all the kids bit it, one after the other, rolling down the hill.  The pig warthog was the hot ticket down the hill, and when that thing woke up and grumbled/growled all the terrified kids went running... or slip sliding around the walnut pods.  It could've been funny if I wasn't supposed to help make sure the kids were happy and safe - not scared and scuffed up...  Amazingly, we all left a little bit muddy (but not soaking wet or stung by bees) with our arms full of apples...

On the left is Aiden and his buddy Hiro trying to keep the bees away by swatting them with a stick - which I put the kabosh on shortly after snapping this photo (I originally thought they were high fiving)... Don't they look cute running through the field towards the hog?... you can't see all the hazards (holes and walnut pods) or hear us saying "be careful, don't fall!"