A muggy day on the farm...

Kids stomping in the mud.

We started the second day at TOP with new buckets and old shovels. The kids dug into dirt, mole hills and around the foot of a big tree.  Kids made dirt hills and castles, found an earwig and flying ants and lots of spiderwebs on the tree bark. Some of the children were playing together, building and digging.  Other kids were pretending to be baby fawns and lying on the grass.  Teacher Jen and I could see that some of the kids were working on adjusting to a new school and adventure.
Both teachers got lots of hugs and love today.  Kids wanted to hold the teacher's hand as we hiked.  Some needed a bit of reassurance, yet there were no tears saying goodbye or any little voices asking when mom would be there.
After our digging we hiked over to an apple tree in the horse pasture.  The horses weren't in the pasture but they were next door.  We used the big apple picker to get each child an apple for snack.  Some chose to eat the apple, some to take it home and some lost interest.  But they did get to learn about apples from our book choice at snack time.
Before we started hiking the kids wanted to take some time at the tireswing.  There were exclamantions for "higher, higher" and some kids just wanted to dig in the rocks. 
There were a few minutes left to hike through the woods back for lunch. 

Teacher Jen and I are so happy with how well the children are adjusting to school.  Many are beginning to get each other's names and to share their play.  Expect your child to be tired upon pick up.  I heard a few voices today that "my legs are tired".  We will extend the hiking as the children get stronger.  By the end of last year we could hike quite a ways without any complaints.  But we will break the kids in slowly.