spending a day in ghost town

the field trip to knott's berry farm was...long.  heh.  i managed to avoid the bus by hitching a ride with my fellow room mom, which was a bonus.  we scooped up a third mom to ride with us and we had a great time chatting all the way down to buena park, where we pulled into a sweet parking spot with a great view of the replica independence hall.

we hung out in the marketplace area to wait for the kids to arrive on the bus, which pulled up a full 20 minutes after us.  one of the dads had driven his own car down there too, and then when the kids finally emerged from the parking lot we made our way over to the park entrance.

once we'd checked in with our tour guide, she led the kids in a single-file line into the ghost town area where they gathered at the general store to learn a little bit about living in a small town in the early days of california.  they watched a candle making demonstration, which i thought would have been way more fun if they'd been able to participate.  a good number of them were pretty zoned out about halfway through.

didn't matter, though. they were still out of the classroom on a school day inside an amusement park, so they were still pretty happy campers.

they were all pretty stoked when they realized they were heading into the entrance for the log ride.

i really try not to hover around my kid when i'm chaperoning a field trip, and since she was closer to the front of the line she got to ride it with her friends and another mom.

i ended up in one of the last logs with a couple of kids who weren't all that sure they even wanted to ride.  it was pretty funny listening to them chatter nervously through the whole thing.

it's a pretty dark ride, and you really don't know when you might round a corner and get soaked, or when the ride will drop.  being in the front, i just knew i was going to end up getting wet, and as we climbed the last hill i was bracing myself for it.

and sure enough, i bore the brunt of the splashing as we took that last steep drop.  luckily it was a pretty warm day, so i didn't mind it so much.

they headed back into ghost town for the next part of the tour, where they sat in the lobby of the theater and listened to a story told by another costumed park employee.

i couldn't help but marvel at the fact that the place really lived up to its name - there were hardly any other parkgoers in sight.  such a huge difference from disneyland, which is maybe ten minutes away and never looks like this except when they're not open:

the blacksmith's shop was the next stop, where the kids got a demonstration on how to make a horseshoe.

as we walked through the park, they got to stop and look at all of the models of the missions of california.  they'll be doing their own missions project in class later on in the year, so it was great for them to be able to get a sneak peek at what they'll be working on.

boysenberries were created here.

as we made our way out of the park to have lunch in the picnic area, we were greeted by a handful of the chickens and geese that live here.

when we re-entered the park we rode the train, where i was surprised to find that they don't do a "holdup" anymore.  and it's not even a real train anymore - it's some weird vehicle they created out of spare parts, including an old school bus.  oh well.  the kids loved it either way.

look at my ass!

the final story was told by a "trapper," who wore a fox on his head and shouted random exclamations throughout his tale.

one last ride, and it wasn't one of the fun ones that the kids had been tortured with all day long.  heh.  no, it was the mine train, where they got to see what it was like to be a miner back in the day.

and then that was that.  although they did receive a certificate that they could use towards a future visit.  it included a coupon that would get a child's admission free with the purchase of one adult ticket, so it looks like we'll be going back again - probably over christmas break.

and if it all possible, you really shouldn't go to knott's and not have mrs. knott's fried chicken.  if not here:

then at least you can stop here and grab it to take home.

after a long day of field tripping, it sure was nice to go home and not have to make dinner.

and it was pretty delicious...although i have to say that disneyland's plaza inn is still better.  guess braving the crowds is still worth it in the end.

third grade school daze

the bean's third trimester of third grade is going by so fast, it's hard to keep up.  with the last cheer competition of the year done and no spring sports to cheer at, there's nothing left to practice for.  the end-of-season banquet was last week, and the old lady and i attended along with the bean.  she ran off to sit with her friends and we headed over to a table of parents to socialize and get caught up on all the news.

when the awards began, i was pleasantly surprised to hear the coach praise the bean for her positive attitude throughout the season.  i'm not unaware of my kid's optimistic and friendly outlook on life, although i will say that there were definitely a handful of times when she really didn't want to go to cheer practice because she said that the coach did a lot of yelling at them.  heh.  i'm also pretty sure that she wasn't a big fan of the laps they had to run as warm-up or as a penalty if they dropped their flyer during stunting practice.  anyway, it was nice to watch her walk up to accept the award and beam happily with pride.

the third grade did a field trip to a local planetarium last week as well, to complement the work they've been doing during science class.  she came home full of information about how they'd gotten to build a rocket and told me all about what they did and how they got to launch the rockets.  since i hadn't been lucky enough to be chosen as a chaperone for this trip, one of the moms was kind enough to send me this picture:

they have another field trip coming up next week to JPL, which i'd heard about last year when her older friends got to go.  i signed that permission form as soon as it came home and checked the "i'm available to chaperone" box in the hopes that i'd get to go too, because a trip to JPL sounds super cool.  alas, luck was not on my side and when the list of chaperones went out i was really bummed not to be on it.  dang it.

about a month or so ago, the bean came home all excited about auditions for a play that the class was going to put on for the school.  everyone would have a part unless they just wanted to be part of the chorus, and she was excited to audition to see if she could get one.  it was a storybook/fairy tale-themed play, so there were all sorts of parts available from princesses to a troll to billy goats gruff.  and i had to stifle a guffaw when she came home with a disgusted look on her face and announced that she'd been assigned to be half of a duo...of rats.  oh man, she was so annoyed.  it was so funny, and i tried to assure her that she would do a great job and would have a lot of fun working with her partner.

they worked hard on practicing those parts, memorizing their lines, learning the songs that they'd be singing.  and then the day finally came for the big performance.  i managed to snag front-row seats for me and the hub, and snapped this when they came in to take their places onstage.

the play was really funny and super cute, and we enjoyed watching them give their all on that stage.  there were a few kids who had surprisingly good singing voices, and i won't be surprised to see a good number of these students in the drama department once they get old enough for it.  they seemed to have a great time during the performance, and were rightfully proud of themselves when the play came to an end.

of course, we had to get a quick selfie with our little rat before she had to get back to class.

they're doing standardized testing all next week, and then they'll have spring break not long after that.  when they get back to class after break they'll have about a month left before the last day of the year comes, just before memorial day.  this year has definitely flown by...i can't believe i'm already having to think about summer plans.  seriously, time needs to slow down.

rainbows make everything better

i was lucky enough to be one of the five names drawn for the bean's first field trip of the year.  yaaaaaaaaaay.  and as an official classroom chaperone, i had to ride on the bus with the kids...all 40 of them.  yowza.

our destination?

i had no idea this place even existed.  and i've driven through this area a gazillion times and never even noticed it.  it's a 10-acre piece of land fenced off to protect the trees, shrubs, flowers and animals with tours available by reservation only.  the third graders are learning about california's native american tribes, and so this was a fun way to incorporate an outing with the lesson plan.  since most of the animals who live and visit this sanctuary sleep during the day, this bird was pretty much the only bit of wildlife we saw - and i'm not even sure the kids noticed him.

as the kids lined up to listen to an introduction by the tour guide, i noticed that one of the girls was wearing this brand-spankin' new pair of white tennis shoes.  on a rainy day.  for a nature walk.  i had to take a "before" shot to compare with what they looked like by the end of the trip.  also, because i'm kind of an asshole like that.

with a couple of my fellow chaperones, who also happen to be among my favorite moms in the school.

the guides gave the kids some basic instructions and an idea of what to expect, and then we began the trek.

they were tasked with finding the little signs along the route and reading them out loud to the group as they walked on by.  the bean found one of the first ones.

one of the activities involved "charging" this gizmo by spinning it and then pushing the wooden piece up and down the dowel.  i wasn't paying attention even a little bit, so i couldn't tell you what it was supposed to do, but the kids seemed to dig it.

then we crossed another bridge:

and listened to a story.

look ma, i'm in nature!

i was glad to be in boots that i was okay with getting all dirty and muddy.

we crossed more bridges.

then the group learned about some of the ways that the tribes hunted for their food.  they used boomerang-looking things to fling across to kill their "prey."

and did a little spear throwing through this hoop.

the bean was one of just two who actually hit their mark:

they learned how to make string using raffia:

we took a selfie:

got the obligatory shot with one of her favorite longtime friends:

and then i snuck in the "after" shot of those shoes.  they were pretty muddy, but not nearly as bad as i'd been expecting.  hopefully they were fairly easy to clean off.

after having some lunch, returning to school, finishing the day and then getting through cheer practice, she got to attend a rare weekday birthday party:

and we ended the day with this.

not too shabby for a monday, i'd say.