Too much intimate.

Third- through fifth-graders were invited to go on a field trip last week to Chase Field Stadium in Phoenix. Our school newsletter advertised this as a "quality, educational event;" also stating, "In an effort to make the event more intimate for those involved, the D-backs (our local baseball team that plays there) will limit attendees to 6,500 per day." Wow. I always thought the word intimate meant less people than that. Like two.

As soon as I saw the school buses, I remembered why I don't often volunteer for stuff like this. For the 6 hours we were off-campus, we spent 3 1/2 of them on said bus. The constant chatter, High School Musical sing-a-longs, and basic kid-silliness was head-splitting. Jeff, I don't know how you did it for all those years day in, day out. That smile I'm flashing is at the beginning of the day...before I realized it would take an hour to even leave the parking lot.

The funniest part of the whole day was when I explained the game of hangman to a Japanese volunteer mom who was browsing an activity book she brought for her kid. I didn't realize how sick and bizarre the whole game is until I saw her shocked reaction about it. Americans are weird.

Unfortunately my camera wasn't allowed inside, but here is Chase Stadium in the background, with our Butterfly and her friend Maya right in front of me amidst all our most intimate friends.