Who's been on TWO field trips?

MASON!

(and a very frazzled Mommy!)

Kindergarten field trip #1 was to Exploration Acres. . .a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayride, straw tunnel, and outdoor play area hot spot. 

Ummmmmm. . .do you know how hard it is to keep track of four 5-year olds at once?  I do now.  And I know it's even harder when there are 5 miles of corn maze paths involved. I was terrified I'd lose one or all of the kiddos.  Worst.  Chaperone.  Ever.

Despite it all, I showed back up 10 days later to chaperone the next field trip.  (Against my better judgement, to tell the truth.  I tried to coerce Rip into taking my spot!  Haha.  He's a smart man and opted out!)

 

Field trip #2 was to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm. . .a WORKING dairy farm with 30,000 dairy cows.  No, that's not a typo.  Thirty THOUSAND. 

We saw two calves being born, 72 cows being milked at once on a rotary milking monstrosity, and got to taste the best ice cream I've ever had.  Yum-a-roo.  We also saw an educational little 3-D movie. . .the kids thought that was awesome.

On both field trips, our sweet little neighbor girl, Emma, was in my group, which was so fun.  She and Mason became fast friends when we arrived in Indiana, and I couldn't have imagined the day without her. 

Oh. . .and my fear about losing a child. . .totally happened at the dairy farm.  He went missing, NO ONE knew where he was or had seen him recently, and all the chaperones plus the four Kindergarten teachers were searching frantically for him.  That child? 

MY OWN.  Seriously.  How embarrassing!



According to the State of Tennessee. . .

According to the slogan of the State of Tennessee, the state represents "America at its Finest."  I think you'd be hard-pressed to argue with that.  We arrived here on the second day of our big road trip adventure, and here's what "they" had that we liked. . .

For one, "they have" Daddy.  AKA Mr. Rip Ray, husband and father extraordinaire.  He had been living in a corporate apartment since June while we were back in Texas. The kiddos were missing him so much by the time we arrived in Nashville, they were literally hanging over the balcony rail, waiting for him to come home from work.

"They" also have the Tennessee Titans!  And because Rip's Aunt Sharon is Jeff Fisher's assistant, the boys got to go to training camp and play around with the players and their kids on the practice field.  Fun stuff!

Because there were four of us in a little corporate apartment designed for just one person, we had to get out and about fairly often to keep ourselves sane.  So here's what else we got into during our week in Nashville:

Krispy Kreme!

family pizza night

the Williamson County Fair

the petting zoo

At the end of our week in Nashville, we were a little sad to leave Rip, but we had a plan:  one week in Indiana visiting my parents, a few days in St. Louis to see our friends The Whites, then BACK to Nashville for a long weekend before heading back to Texas in time for Mason to start Kindergarten.  Oh, how I love a good plan!