wheeler farm..the experience of a lifetime..

last week i was able to go with olivia and her first grade class, on a field trip to this local farm--Wheeler Farm. first, let me say, that i've lived in the salt lake valley for most of my life--well, at least half of it. and while i had heard of Wheeler Farm, I'd never been. But really, lets face it; if you know me, then you know that i dont like bugs, dirt or stinky animals. period. so i've never had any interest in going to this place. But now that i'm older (gasp!), i think that i'm now actually able to appreciate nature, and find beauty in all things--whether or not they are stinky. Anyways, I was pretty excited to go, since usually its Art that goes on the field trips.. I couldnt wait, and neither could olivia.

So, lets fast forward to me getting to the school: its a little chilly, kinda overcast, but not too bad. I grab my sweater, just in case. I mean, we'd been experiencing pretty nice weather in the mid 70's. I thought I was thinking ahead. Anyways, I get inside, and Olivia sees me. The first thing out of her mouth is "mom, we have to wear tennis shoes, you know, we're going to a farm." Um, yeah I know where we are going. But like I said, its been warm, so I was wearing my flip flops--duh. We get to the farm, after an excruiatingly long and LOUD ride on the bus. Seriously?? who the hell crams 60 1st graders on one damn bus? I was ready to push out the emergency window and throw myself into the traffic on I-80 at that point.

Anywho.. we get there. Its a little windy--not too bad. The teacher casually mentions something about rain, but I'm not really listening or caring. The clouds arent THAT dark. We walk around for about 10-15 minutes, when all of a sudden--and I do mean sudden, there is a torrential downpour. I'm talking ginormous rain drops. Everywhere. We run for cover to the nearest place with a roof--the chicken coop. Yup. Me and 20 first graders with 3 class moms whom, by the way, dont speak English. Luckily the teacher had brought some garbage bags that we used to turn into make shift rain coats for the kids. Then we just stand there. Us, and chickens. This lasted for about 15mins before we made a run to the big barn--where the other classes had been. So yeah, we stayed there for the better part of the field trip..we didnt get to see many animals at all--but it was still fun. Even though my feet were covered in dried up dirt/mud, my hair was frizzed beyond belief. Olivia was right about the tennis shoes. Who knew?