Friday, October 22, 2010

cluck, moo, squeal

Partner-in-crime and I sat in our assistant principal's office this afternoon just staring at each other. There was nothing else to say. Our first field trip of the year was over and we'd survived. And perhaps even more importantly, all the animals at the farm survived (as far as we know). 

It was a long day, with some amazing highs and some stunning lows we just wont get into now. Some things are best to be blocked out. I must admit though that my favorite moment of the entire trip was when we made it to the chicken coop. I'd stuck myself on Pixie today knowing how easily she can be distracted and how quickly she could wonder off or end up jumping the fences to get to the animals (which she tried numerous times). She also managed to actually exchange kisses with numerous goats. Looking back, perhaps I wasn't doing such a great job as Pixie's bff after all.

Regardless, we left the nursing pig and made our way to the chicken coop. Growing up in the country I didn't think anything of seeing a bunch of chickens, but Pixie believed in equal squeals for every set of animals. She sprinted toward the chickens and immediately threw her tiny hands around the chicken wire.  PJ who'd been standing off to the side gasped in horror. 
"NO!" he screamed, "Don't touch the chickens! They'll get you!" and ran toward Pixie, pushing her out of the way. Pixie is not one to be discouraged and simply moved down the wire, ignoring PJ's warning. PJ does not like to be ignored, and he also really does not like chickens.
"NO!" he repeated, "WATCH OUT!" with that he grabbed her hands and pulled her back away from the oblivious chickens. Pixie looked confused that someone was standing between her and her wanted birds. Luckily she was quickly distracted by the promise of seeing a rabbit. I'm not sure what PJ would have done if she'd made another run for the chickens.

I love that PJ was so concerned about his friends. I was a bit worried he'd actually cause more harm to Pixie than the chickens would have, but it was really sweet to see him protecting his classmates.

The rest of the day was equally enduring/exhausting.  These kids are lucky they're so cute. 


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