Unending sunlight.

One yellow schoolbus, with driver.

Fifteen preschoolers, three teachers.

Hats, mittens, saltines and juice-boxes.

First aid kit, spare set of dry clothes.

Tissue and paper towels. Papers and markers. Bag of books.

Nature Center. Pond. Trails crunchy with leaves.  

Bathroom. Picnic Tables. Playground.

 

Apply coats, hats, and mittens to preschoolers and pack along with other portable ingredients into yellow school bus. Buckle two to a seat, and drive until giggles erupt from the bouncing. Notice reflection of school bus in store windows at red lights. Unzip, remove hats, mittens as needed.

At Nature Center, reapply hats, mittens and re-zip coats. Stomp, kick, sluice through crunchy leaves on the trail. Talk. Help someone get all their fingers into their glove-fingers. Use tissues liberally on at least one runny nose. Hold a hand.

At pond, listen for geese honking. Stand along shore and watch them tuck heads into wings, or stretch their necks tall to honk.
Honk back.

Make one trip to the bathroom with one teacher and four preschoolers while eleven preschoolers and two teachers flirt with the muddy edges of the pond.

Recombine in space large enough to run among the trees. Wonder where all the birds have gone. Heap, pile, throw leaves into air. Jump in the piles. Wave sticks until teachers offer papers and markers. Use first aid kit to remove sliver from one finger. Randomly remove and reapply hats, mittens. Keep in motion, mixing til hungry and thirsty.

Hike to picnic tables. Add saltines, juice-boxes and large playground. Remind kids not to squeeze juice-boxes. Blot mittens and picnic table with paper-towels where juice has been squeezed from juice boxes.

Trek to bathroom with dry clothes and one preschooler who slid down a wet slide. Encourage climbing, sliding, talking, and throwing away your snack garbage.

Make one more trip to the bathroom, removing and reapplying mittens and coats as needed. Gather on bus. Repeat packing, buckling, giggling. Pass out books, read a story, look out the windows.  Notice the moon already in the sky – almost full.
Feel full, too.