Field trip to the airport

Cecilia's class had a field trip to the Lewis University Airport to learn about planes and to see one up close.  The boys were off school that day so they all got to come along.  We had several conversations about them being older and responsible and how they were going to be helpers on the field trip.  For the most part they were good until it came down to who got to sit by the window on the airplane.  It turns out it doesn't matter how old you are or if the plane isn't even going to move the window seat is necessary for life.


Joel has an affinity for toddlers.  He loves toddlers, but he is drawn to babies too.  On the field trip we were getting ready to walk thru a shop where students were working on airplanes.  I told my kids to buddy up with each other.  Vincent quickly took Dean.  Cecilia went with her two friends and Joel grabbed the hand of a cute little boy who is the sibling of one of the kids in Cecilia's class.  I wasn't sure which one or what his mom's name was so it was a bit awkward.  I explained to Joel that while I appreciate his enthusiasm to help this little boy is going to need to be helped by his mom and not you.  That didn't stop Joel from walking next to the lady all of the field trip and even wanting to sit by them on the plane.

When we were seated on the plane a friend of ours was sitting behind me with 3 of his kids.  They have 4 kids and one is Joel's age, one is Cecilia's age, one is Dean's age and one is a couple years younger than Dean.  They were all sitting quietly and I said to Dean look at Lane's shirt.  What does he have on it?  Now Lane was wearing a John Deere shirt with a tractor on it.  I only noticed it was a tractor.  Dean says "John Deere yucky poop!" just as clear as could be.  The dad started laughing, I apologized and quickly blamed that on Brad.


It was a great opportunity and I was glad the boys got to come with.  I remember as a kid either in kindergarten or 1st grade getting to go on a big airplane with my class.  A classmate (Justin) had a parent who worked for the airline or something.  It clearly made an impression on me since I still remember 30 years later.