SIPRESS SCOOP

Tuesday October 8 th was your typical Washington morning; cold, foggy and a forecast of nothing but rain.   However, a tremendous amount of our Darcy Read Memorial Preschool parents and students bared the weather, bundled up and strapped on their rain boots for the annual trip to the Thomasson Family Farm.     We gathered up at the entrance to the farm just before ten am and were greeted by one of the farm’s owner’s- Mrs. Thomasson.   She welcomed us and explained the variety of activities we would enjoy; first up was the Hay Ride. The farm attendants occupied the children with a fun song; “This is a hammer, this is a nail.   When this tractor’s moving keep you pants nailed to a bail.”   The farm’s fields were very muddy from the rain so they drove the kids in a figure eight around the parking lot.   The children loved the ride but were ready to attack the main event:   The great pumpkin search.   The farm was expecting many field trip groups that day and they had prepa

Last Spring we began to discuss preschool options for our four year old son.   With me being a stay at home Mom we felt it was important to socialize him, get him used to taking directions from other adults outside our family and also get him adjusted to a classroom routine. As we began our search we quickly realized that full time pre-k courses could cost $500 a month and up.   One perk to our location on the west hill of Kent is that we were surrounded by options.   I stumbled upon a cooperative preschool in Des Moines.   It is about a ten minute drive away and the teachers are all just amazing.   A few weeks before school started we meet up with some of the children, moms and teachers at the park for a play date.   Issac was super excited and picked out his outfit beforehand.   At the park both children interacted very well with all the students, parents and teachers and I knew it was going to be a great fit for us.   On the first day of school Issac woke up at 7am, ate his y

    Early on in the summer we had discussed a Labor Day camping trip with Tyler’s brother Jayson.   We haven't been camping since before we had Josie.  The age of our kids concerned me a little because of the fire and the woods.  As June rolled in to July and August approached we realized we needed to get on it.  With Jayson's school in session we wanted to be considerate and pick a spot close to them.  I had read an article online about the most kid friendly camping locations in Washington State & that is how we choose Battle ground State Park. I reserved the very last available camping site for the long weekend.   Although it was not our site of choice, our campsite was very large and fairly private.   The six of us and our three dogs had plenty of space.      To avoid the Friday traffic madness we decided to leave Saturday morning first thing.   We stopped in Kelso where my brother is buried and dropped off some flowers on our way.   There was no traffic so