It's been a busy couple of weeks here. On the last week of September Henry and his class went on their first class field trip! (The picture is Henry with his best friend Braelan. They have been inseperable since the first week of school.) Since I am class photographer, Sam and I came along too. We went to Cooley Ranch in Watsonville. We met up with Mrs. Cooley, our official tour guide. She showed us her barn and her chickens. She gave us the background about her farm and a complete tour of all the different kinds of trees on her property. She had walnuts, quince, apple, persimmon, pomegranate and lemon trees. The kids had the privaledge of picking the apples and lemons and bringing them back to class.
The best part was the kids got to pick and eat strawberries from the farm next door. They were so ripe and sweet. There is nothing better than sun-ripened strawberries. Sam spent a lot of time there. He never eats much, but at least he loves fruit!
The kids made lemonade from the lemons and sold cups of it on Friday. The money they made went to the Hurricane victims.
The next week we went to Pinto Lake County Park. I've only been to Pinto Lake city park so it was a real change of pace. The city park is nothing by comaprison! Pinto Lake County Park is actually a great park with lots of hiking paths and a great view of the lake.
The only problem was Sam was with me and he's going through a real clingy stage where he doesn't really like to walk. He wants to be carried all the time. He tugs on my leg and says to me "I carry you, I carry you" when he wants to be carried. It's not easy looking at those big chihuahua eyes and say "no." Pinto Lake County Park has a lot of steep hills with steps and Sam did not want to walk! I was so tired, I could barely take pictures! Luckily, one of the kids dads offered to have Sam on his shoulders for a little bit. That helped my back alot!
For most of the trip we were guided by a man named Patrick who is part of the Ohlone Native American tribe in Watsonville. He had a drum with him and he told some great stories and sang some songs. It was very interesting to see.
I'm happy to say that for the last 2 weeks that Matt has been home on my Linscott workdays, Sam has been doing really well. The first time Matt brought him, he had to stay with Sam for an hour because Sam would just break down and cry everytime his daddy started towards the door. However, his cries were not like the ones he gave me. So Matt left after the hour, Sam cried for a little bit but, got over it. And last week, Matt left after only 10 minutes. Sam didn't cry at all!
Of course, all the progress could and probably will be lost come this week when Matt leaves for New York. Starting Thursday, he'll be gone for a week. We'll be missing his birthday and our 10 year anniversary. I'm bummed but, he's gotta do what he's gotta do. We can celebrate when he gets home. I'm just glad and grateful he's working. If it means I have to carry Sam for two class workdays, so be it.
She's only worth a measly half a point while the Meatloaf stuff is worth one whole point! Anyway, I had a fun time doing this. I expect high scores from Jamie and Eric. If you reference my blog url, you can get a bonus 5 points at the end. Let me know what score you get! Have a great week!
