The field trip in which the bus got lost.

When the field trip permission slip came home and the accompanying letter requested parent volunteers to go along, I was so stinking excited!  I immediately made arrangements for Hudson to spend the day with a friend and sent the form back noting that I would be happy to go along!  They needed 2 parents to ride the bus and as any others that were available to meet them at the pumpkin patch.  In my excitement to return the form, I forgot to include the money and it got sent back...mom fail.  Anyhow, I missed out on being a bus mom but that worked out in my favor.  

After an hour and a half delay, they unload and spend 30 minutes going to the bathroom.

On the day of the field trip, it was downright frigid.  After a week of mid-70s and beautiful weather, we get overcast, windy and cold.  I arrived at the pumpkin patch approximately 40 minutes after the bus was scheduled to leave the school figuring that it would arrive just about the same time as me.  When I saw buses pull up, I hopped out of the extremely warm van and went to wait for the classes to unload.  I immediately recognized the Kindergarten shirts and tried to locate the purple shirts.  I only saw 5 classes lined up so I figured Kemper's bus was one of the next in line to unload.  

First stop, the learning barn!

The first 5 classes take off with their guides and the small group of moms that were waiting on the next bus begin chatting (thank goodness for those colored shirts that we were encouraged to buy...I was easily able to locate others from our school to chat with while we waited).  We waited and waited and finally more buses arrived.  They weren't ours.  Bus after bus began arriving and still no Montgomery county.  We notice one of the other Kindergarten teachers heading back our way.  She leads with, "I am so so sorry."

Kemper giving the milking station a try.

Probably not the best way to lead off to a group of moms waiting on their kids' bus to arrive.  Then she tells us that the bus missed the exit off the interstate and is in Nashville.  WHAT?!  Now, I understand missing the exit but cannot figure out why in the world they didn't get off and turn around at one of the 4 exits between the missed one and Nashville.  She says she'll keep us posted and apologizes.  We all head over to buy some hot chocolate and laughing about the absurdity of the bus getting lost.  

Kemper and some of his classmates being goofy

About 20 minutes later (so about 50 minutes since the first 5 groups got started), one of the school administrators came back to let us know that the bus was still about 30 minutes away.  They had done a loop around Nashville.  Now we're bordering on complete insanity.  Luckily we all were getting a good laugh out of this and thanking our lucky stars that we weren't one of the bus parents for this trip!

Kemper chose to sit next to his teacher on the hayride instead of me...I'm not bitter. ;)

When the buses finally arrived, it was an hour and a half after the other kids had arrived.  They loaded off the bus and Kemper's teacher was ready to go.  Her class was lined up and waiting for our guide.  The other 2 classes weren't quite as prepared...many of the kids needed to use the restrooms.  I can't say I blame them but it would have been nice to get going because we were really crunched for time at this point.  After a 30 minute restroom break, we finally got going.  First stop was the learning barn where we learned all about how pumpkins grow and then about bees.  The kids did really well sitting still considering they had been cooped up on the bus for almost 2 hours.  

Kemper with his pumpkin.

Next up was the animal yard were we got to see calves, bunnies, chickens, pigs, goats and a donkey.  The kids also got to try their hand at milking a cow.  They had these neat milking stations set up so you could see what it was like...most of the kids loved it but there were quite a few who thought it was so gross.  We were rushing the kids through these areas because it was already 11:15 and they were supposed to eat lunch at 11:30 plus we still had the hayride to do before lunch!

Kemper's Kindergarten class 2013-2014 (and for those of you curious, his girlfriend is in the pink coat with her hood pulled up)

We headed over to the hayride and waited for a tractor to come back.  We spent probably 15 minutes waiting so by the time we got to the pumpkin field, it was close to 11:45.  The buses had to leave going back to school by 12:30 and our kids still hadn't eaten lunch.  We ushered them off the tractors and they each got to go pick out their little pumpkins.  We had to wait quite awhile (long enough to play "Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern" a few times) for the tractor to return and by the time we got back from the hayride, it was 12:40 and the buses were waiting on us.  You see, instead of having dedicated buses for the field trip, we were using buses that had to be back by 1pm so that they could unload and then get to one of the high schools to pick up up the high school kids who get let out before the elementary school kids.  So it was decided that our kids would eat lunch on the bus going back to school.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever.  

Luckily, they have no clue what all they missed out on by being on the bus that got lost.  The other classes had the chance to jump on the giant jumping pillows and play on the playground after they finished their lunches.  They also didn't have to basically run from one thing to another because we were running low on time.  Kemper's teacher did say that they were amazing on the bus while they were lost and she was so proud of how they behaved.  Kemper thought it was so cool that they got lost and told me that they went to the pumpkin store instead of the pumpkin patch (apparently they stopped in a Kroger parking lot to ask for directions and the kids saw all of the pumpkins).  

I can't say that I wasn't annoyed at the whole situation.  I don't understand why the buses didn't travel together and why they didn't make sure that all of the bus drivers had the correct address and directions.  However, in the end, it all worked out and our kids did arrive safe.  They had a great time and think that they got to go on an extra special adventure.  Hopefully his next field trip experience will be better than this one!

Kemper sitting with his class for the awards ceremony.

The next week, parents were invited to attend the first 9 weeks awards ceremony.  They do a separate ceremony for each grade level.  Hudson and I planned to attend because the note home said that Kemper had been chosen to receive an award!  

Hudson being entertained so I could attempt to pay attention.

Hudson was so excited to see Kemper walk in the gym but was NOT happy with me when I wouldn't let him run over to Kemper.  At that point, my phone came out and he spent the rest of the time on the floor exploring my phone.  

Kemper getting his citizenship award!

Kemper was chosen to receive the citizenship award!  A boy and girl from each class is chosen to receive the award each 9 weeks.  He and his little friend Briley got the award for Ms. Davis's class.  We are so proud of him and how well he is adjusting to Kindergarten!  When it was time to leave, Hudson was extremely upset that "B" wasn't coming home with us so I had to carry him screaming out to the car.  I'm so happy he loves his brother.