Fall Field Trips...

 I met up with McKay's kindergarten class up at Johnson's Farm.  It is a beautiful farm tucked way back in the Santa Cruz mountains.  The kids got to go on a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch that was filled with 8 foot tall sunflowers.  McKay got to pick a pumpkin off the vine and cut it off.  I am glad I got to share this experience with McKay.  I also couldn't find my camera, so thank you Kimi for the photos.

I also went on two field trips with Ethan.  Ethan has about 11 field trips this year.  This is the first year I have been able to help out with field trips.  So I have been keeping myself very busy.  I went with Ethan to the Whale Museum Natural History Museum in Santa Cruz.  I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures.  We had a good time learning about the Ohlone Native Americans, who lived in Santa Cruz.  Ethan loved seeing the tiny baskets the Ohlone's weaved, which were water proof, and seeing all the bees in the honeycomb.  He wrote a much more detailed paper on the entire experience.
I also, got to go on the UCSC life lab field trip.  The children learned all about fruits and vegtebles.  They made fresh squeezed apple juice and corn tortillas.  They sampled kale, radish, and apples from the gardens.  They fed the chickens, learned about worm composting, and played in the musical garden.  It is such a picturesque farm overlooking the ocean.  Luckily I had my camera, but my pictures do not do it justice.

Exploring the farm (view looking into ocean can't tell from photo)

Making Corn Tortillas

Learning about worm composting

With Ethan being in 3rd grade I have felt there is a sense of innocence that is not there anymore that you find in the younger grades.  When one of the girls I drove in my car asked if I had eminem to listen to I was a little taken aback.  I was thinking wow things start changing at an early age.
However, after watching all the kids cheer on their fellow classmates while they were pressing apples it brought a smile to my face.  There is still sweetness in the 3rd grade. ( I had trouble loading the video of the kids cheering for Ethan, if I can figure out the problem I will add later.)

Drinking their Fresh Pressed Apple Juice.

Making music in the musical garden.