Why do they call them FIELD trips anyway?

OK, so we live in a small town. My little Kindergartener had a 'field trip' this morning to a place called the "Pumpkin Patch". Imagine this...one busload of 5-6 year olds, with about 20 vehicles following it; with MOST of the parents having NO directions NOR any clue where we were going. (YES, thank GOD for cell phone conferencing)!

It's Friday, and MOST of Thursday night there was a monstrous, weather changing front coming through. And in Louisiana, that means LOTS of rain, even lightning. So, when we get to this 'family owned' farm, so to speak, and see how the cars were parking~as directed by one of the teens working there~"park only on the green grass"; one has to wonder what OTHER colors the grass may be where we're going!

We make our way in the Mommy van, through sand and muck, to the 'field' designated for parking. And, lo and behold, there was some almost black grass! Black, from the MUD that resulted from the storm the night before! They 'repaired' the entrance with SAND. Yes, sand. You should have seen the ruts! I said a silent prayer that we didn't get stuck, and followed the 'herd' of parents. This isn't unusual for us, living in a rural area, visiting yet another rural area.

But you would think that the owners would take into consideration that 5-6 year old children were coming on their property, in these conditions! There of course, was an irrigation ditch, with a pipe (conduit) was exposed and surrounded by MORE water, and mud/muck. This was at an angle to the ditch of water we had to cross to get to the pumpkin field! They added two pieces of plywood as 'makeshift' bridges. Yeah, that worked! Once several people had stepped on them, got them wet, and softened; well, you guessed it! They would collapse in the middle and cover with water. Hence, WET, muddy feet!

Then they have this AWESOME, huge RED, um, bouncy thing out in another portion of their property. It was like a big red 'pillow' made of a rubbery material, that had been filled with air, tied down, and surrounded by, yep, MORE SAND! So now we have WET SAND, requirements to 'remove shoes before jumping'; and so we proceed to remove those muddy shoes (and socks) for them to jump on the 'big red bouncy thing'. It's even fenced in!

Well, that horrendous storm the night before? Uh-huh, it brought in colder weather. SO, we have about 8 or 9 busloads of what appeared to be 4, 5, and 6 year olds, barefoot in the cold, wet sand climbing on a big, red, bouncy thing over and over again. So then "I" proceed to go back through the muddy obstacle course, to snatch one of the towels (in a bucket) that were being used to wipe off the pumpkins. Mommy was looking ahead to cleaning those wet, sandy feet to put the socks and shoes back on!

OK, so we get past this and make our way over the irrigation pipe into the field of 'already cut' pumpkins. The kids select their pumpkins, and we make our way over that makeshift bridge only to gather to decide if 'the siblings at home should get a pumpkin as well', AND how much it would cost! So we make our way to an adorable little 'country store' sort of cabin, to find that they were $5.oo each.

The father (yes, one of those rare Dads that could attend this "FIELD" trip) of my daughter's BFF (best friend forever), holding his youngest daughter in his arms, proceeds to show us the mark on her face. They went into the 'Petting Pen' and the goat 'horned' her and pinned her against the fencing! "SHE" is not yet 2 years old...and says, "Bad (baah, baah, doat)"~ironic, huh? She was so cute, but sounded as though she were chastising a lamb instead.

We let our girls peddle around a bit on the little kiddie tractor-bikes, looked at each other and said, "Are you ready to go?" (already knowing the answer)! So, we made our way back to the van, and who do we see walking? The "dad" and the baby! They were asked to leave, being told that they needed a 'sticker', to pay again (for the baby) or leave! When he complained about the goat, they told him he was in a 'restricted area'...the petting pen? Where several others were? Wait until MOM hears about this! (and yes, the drama continued from home)...

So, my carpooling friend, our daughters, and I proceed to take a MUCH shorter route, to a quaint little BBQ place to sit down and eat lunch. The sandwiches were saved for later, but the chips were eaten on the way..and "we" were back to our little town about an hour before the bus returned. I cannot wait to 'hear' the feedback on this Pumpkin Patch FIELD trip!

What ever happened to Museums? The Mint? The Cabildo? Educational, historical places that 'we' visited as students? I guess it's more fitting to go to muddy FIELDS on field trips instead!