Strawberry Fields Forever

So keeping up with this blog is more work than I thought it would be. Not sure how others find the time to write and download pictures on a daily basis.

This past Friday, all six kindergarten classes at Spicewood went on a field trip to Sweet Berry Farms, located in Marble Falls. I was one of the lucky (?) two parents for our class who got to ride on the school bus with the kids. Somehow I remember the buses being bigger back in my bus riding days in junior high! Alex thought it would be fun to take pictures of his friends on the bus. I have about one hundred to choose from, but here are some of the best.

Once at Sweet Berry Farms, the kids had a picnic lunch in absolutely beautiful weather.

Then we met our farm guide, Farmer Lauren. She took us to go Berry Splatting. The boys in the class were especially thrilled to do this. First Farmer Lauren added some paint to each strawberry. Then the berry is placed into the strawberry gun, a device similar to the marshmallow shooters if you have ever seen those. Each child then had a chance to shoot their strawberry at the white cloth banner, which was a souvenir for the classroom.

Then we were off to learn about aphids and ladybugs, and each child was given a ladybug to release onto the strawberry fields. They also planted some seeds in a biodegradable pot which they got to water and then take home in a plastic baggy, and had relay races to dig for fruits and vegetables hidden in the sandbox garden.

Finally, it was strawberry picking time! Each child had a little box to fill up, but I splurged and bought the parent sized box. We picked lots of beautiful, juicy strawberries, and are currently in a race against the clock to eat them all before they go bad.

The time flew by, and then we headed back to Austin. It was the end of the 3rd nine weeks, which means... report card day! I was a bit of a geek growing up, so report card day is synonymous for me with great days. I resisted the urge to open up the brown envelope in his classroom, but as soon as we were in the Mommy van, I ripped it open.

Report cards today don't look anything like they did when we were growing up. They get graded on about 40 different things, and more annoyingly, they are graded on a scale of 1-4. So 4 is the best, but I can't help wanting to see all 1s.

Alex had what I consider to be a spectacular report card - almost all 4s, with a smattering of 3s, and a lone 2 from his Spanish teacher. But the best part was the part on the second page, where his teacher gets to add her personal comments about him: "Alex is an excellent student capable of grasping even the most complex directions. He is a delight to have in class and does very well in school."

Yes, that is right. My firstborn, who had a number of red and yellow days last fall, is now "an excellent student" who is a "delight to have in class." I was so elated, I almost drove immediately to Toys R Us to buy him the Nintendo DS he so desperately craves. I'm still doing my happy dance.