We got back to the school at 2:00.The kids had a ton of fun. I think I must be getting old. Either that or I know what a parent feels like. I have never seen so many other schools there before.
We got there about 10:20, and went to the picnic area to eat lunch. Almost all the tables were taken. Most of our group headed off to the left to the last tables, I headed to the right because A) I'd brought a blanket for the kids to sit on and B) it was in the sun. On a cold windy day, this was a good thing.
Then it was cleanup, and trips to the port-o-johns. Mine didn't have TP, so I brought out the tissue I'd kept in my pockets for the sniffles.
We sat in the bus for about 20 minutes until it was our turn to start the tour. If it'd been warmer, or less windy we could have played duck duck goose.
We walk up to the front, and my group is told to go to the "milking cows". It was a barrel covered in fake fur with a cutout head on one end, and rubber "udders" under the other. I thought it'd be a great chance for the kids to try milking, but oh no.... the kids weren't allowed to! This was for the TEACHERS. uh... wtf? Yeah. They pit 2 teachers against each other to see who can milk the most in a certain time. I lost. Yet even after we were done, the kids still wanted to try it.
Then it was off the to the moonwalk houses. Yeah, at a pumpkin patch. Who knew? Take off the shoes, put them in a wheelbarrow. Hope that wheelbarrow doesn't get mixed in with some othre wheelbarrow for some other school. Let kids run willynilly through 3 different inflatable houses. One designed like an obstacle course, one like an elephant that contained stuff inside to throw at each other (beach balls etc) and a "scary" haunted house one that kept deflating when kids held the exit open for too long. At the end of all this excitement we then try and find A) each other, and B) our wheelbarrow. This was about the point I lost my sense of humor. We stopped before the next activity and did a head count to make sure we hadn't lost anyone inside the houses.
Next it was the maze! Oh, not a corn maze, but more of a wooden fence variety. Now, unless I'm with someone that I want to get lost with, and find a secluded hideyplace with, I don't fancy mazes. I don't see the sense in it. But to stay with the kids, I went through it as well. After the maze came the pirate ship.
Yes, you read me right. I wrote pirate ship. Again, at a pumpkin patch! Who knew? The kids got to go under and over the ship, and then slide down the plank as it were. Then there was the bean-bag toss into the pumpkin-shaped plywood with a hole in it. Again though, only the teacher got a turn. wtf?? Let the kids have a try.
Next was the hay ride. A tractor with a loooong trailer with wooden seats came up. There were sprinkles of hay on the floor, so I guess that counts. We drove through the patch, and then back in the woods where there were cutouts of cartoon characters nailed to trees. After the ride, was the edumacational video on how a pumpkin plant grows, then a look at the science center with real like snakes and birds and water monitor.
After the science center, we were ready to visit the petting zoo! I tell ya, there was soooo much entertainment for the $10.00 value! Everyone was thirsty again, but we didn't have any water for them, and if we did, they'd have to use the port-o-johns again.
Then we collected our pumpkins. Each child received a bag with a pumpkin in it, as did the teachers and chaperones. Then it was back to the buses.
Did I mention how full our 2 buses were? We had 2 first grades with 22 students each, and 3 kindergartens, plus approx. 3 parent chaperones per class plus teachers. We had to split up my class on the trip down. So when we returned, we had the same buses. Well, my assistant on the other bus forgot that I had some students with me, so her count kept coming up short. My bus left, so I called her to let her know I had the others with me.
The drive back was uneventful. Some kids fell asleep cradling their pumpkins. That was the best part :P
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