Field Trip

I zipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Momma, I can't wait. Today is our field trip to the Rain Forest Adventure Zoo."

"Yes, I know. You'll have a fun time, I'm sure."

"I sure hope so." Daddy walked in, plopped onto a stool, and yawned. "Thought you'd never go to sleep last night."

I grinned. "I was a little bit excited."

"A little bit?" Daddy's eyebrows popped up.

Momma chuckled. "Just remember to be careful with your arm."

*********
Soon after arriving at school, the whole class filed onto the bus. It sounded like a bunch of bees with all of us talking at once.

The bus driver stopped at the railroad tracks. "Everybody quiet. I have to listen for any approaching trains." He opened the door, looked both ways, then shut the door back. "Okay."

I looked out the window. "Well, we weren't squashed like a pancake."

Mrs. Taylor turned around. "And I'm glad about that."

The bus pulled in front of the Rain Forest place and we followed in a line off and through the front doors.

We started our tour.

Emalie pointed. "Look at that hedgehog. Isn't he cute?"

One of the workers explained about how the hedgehog will roll into a ball, then she demonstrated.

We all made ooh sounds.

I saw chicks and little goats. There were rats and mouses that I didn't really like. The Bearded Dragon lizard was really cool looking. But I didn't want to pet the snake or the spider.

Jill motioned for me. "Chloe, come here. Look. It's a ferret."

All of the sudden something wet squirted at us.

"Yikes! He peed on us." I wiped at the damp places on my arm.

"No, the ferret didn't pee on you." Mrs. Taylor walked up behind us.

Jill's eyes widened. "Felt like he did."

"That's just the water spray. They have to make it like the rain forest, remember?" Mrs. Taylor patted Jill's back.

I swiped my hand across my forehead. "Whew. I'm glad to hear that. I was wondering how I was gonna explain to Momma about having pee on my shirt."

Mrs. Taylor chuckled.
********************
Chloe was so excited about her field trip that she had trouble going to sleep. Have you ever been that excited about a trip? Explain.

Why do you think Chloe didn't want to pet the snake or the spider? Would you have petted them?

5-Star Reviews!

The Adventures of Chloe Ann Parker - Kindergarten has two 5-star reviews on Amazon! 

This review is written by my eight year old daughter:
I think this book was amazing. And I like how Chloe Ann was so creative. I think the author really made Chloe come to life. I can so imagine I might meet someone exactly like her. I felt really close to the character because I can relate to her and I think other kids can too. How the character acted was realistic. I also loved the recipe for edible play-do! I'll definitely try that sometime!


My first grader, as well as my 5th grader both love this book!! It is very well written, and full of adventure. If you enjoy books such as Junie B., you will love this series as well. As a parent, I highly recommend! 


Yay! Way to go, Chloe. 

Parents, if you and your child have read a Chloe book, please consider posting a short review like these. Reviews help spread the word to other kids who might enjoy reading of Chloe's adventures. 

Yikes! I Need Help.

Instead of a shower, I had to take a bath with my cast all wrapped in plastic. Momma poured a big cup of water over my head to rinse the shampoo out.

I squeezed my eyes shut but opened them too soon. "Momma, my eyes are burning."

Momma handed me a washcloth and I tried my best to wipe the soap out with my left hand. I poked my lower lip out.

"Chloe, what's the pouty lip for?"

"This is a disaster! How long do I have to wear this thing?" I raised my right arm.

"You will probably have to wear the cast about six weeks. Maybe less, if your wrist heals faster."

I moaned. "Ugh."

"You'll just have to make the best of it."

***************************
As soon as I stepped into Mrs. Taylor's room on Monday morning, everyone gathered around.

"Whoa, Chloe, what happened?" Dylan said.

"I broke my wrist. Little accident on my scooter."

Weston moved next to me. "Does it hurt?"

"A little bit. Not too bad."

Mrs. Taylor walked up and put her hand on my shoulder. "Friends, we'll have to help Chloe a lot until she can get her cast off."

"How come?" Bryson said.

I held up my cast. "It's my right hand. The one I use to write and cut and color. Everything."

"Ohh," everyone said at once.

********************
Mrs. Taylor read a book called Last Stop on Market Street. She help up a page. "Now you will have to color, cut, and glue down this onto the construction paper. Then you'll be writing down here what the purpose of the author was for writing this."

She explained a bit more and demonstrated. I hardly heard her. I couldn't do any of that. My eyes got watery.

"Come on, Chloe. You can color the shapes with your left hand, and then I'll cut them out. Then you can put the glue stick on." Efren smiled.

"Thanks for helping me."

Efren shrugged. "It's okay."

***********************
Later we went onto the new playground. Everything looked so fun, but I couldn't do anything. I watched as everyone tried out the monkey bars. I traipsed over to the sidewalk and plunked down.

"Come on, Chloe. We'll walk around with you," Kelly said.

"Yeah, come on." Belinda reached her hand to help me up.

"No, you go ahead. I know you want to try out the new stuff."

"Let's all go watch, and when you get your cast off, you'll know what you want to try." Kelly nodded.

We walked around, stopping to look at each activity. I actually had a good time, even though I couldn't do any of the activities.

When we lined up to go inside, Leonardo walked into line behind me. "Can people sign your cast?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask Momma."

"It could be fun to have all of us sign it and write little messages on it." Leonardo's eyes widened.

"You're right. That does sound like fun." I would ask Momma as soon as I got home today.

*********************
"Momma, Leonardo said something about people signing my cast. Do you think I could have my friends sign mine?"

Momma's eyes brightened. "Now, why didn't I think of that? Of course. I'll send you some small markers to use. They can sign it and decorate it right up."

I looked at the boring white cast. "I'll have the prettiest cast around."

"You probably will. And I think it will coax that smile back out of you." Momma tweaked my nose.

*****************************
Chloe hadn't expected all of the things she wouldn't be able to do with her arm in a cast. Make a list of the things she might not be able to do. Which thing do you think would be the hardest to not be able to do? Explain why.

Chloe's friends helped her deal with her broken wrist. What would you have offered to help Chloe to do?

 

The Rock Came Outta Nowhere!

"Momma, can I practice riding my scooter?"

"Sweetie, we're just getting back from the church Easter egg hunt." She lugged the kid's car seat carrier out of the back seat of the car.

"Chloe, let's help Momma get Peyton inside and then I'll come out and watch you. I spotted a bush I need to trim anyway," Daddy said.

I clapped my hands. "Yay. Thanks Daddy."

MeMe and PopPop found the scooter at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I had practiced riding it only three times.

"We'll be back in soon, dear. I know Chloe needs a bath. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday morning." Daddy pulled the door shut behind him. "Stay right in our driveway, okay? I'm gonna clip those few branches I missed right over there."

"Okay, Daddy." I strapped on the little helmet MeMe bought to match my pretty pink scooter. The perfect color for me.

I rode up and down the driveway, but I needed a little bit of a hill like the street right in front of the house.

"Daddy, can I try riding in the road just once?"

"We probably need to be getting inside."

"You're right there to watch me. I want to see if I can go better on that little hill."

"I guess. But just once."

I positioned the scooter and kicked off. I whooshed to the bottom of the hill and jumped off. "That was fun!" I picked up the scooter and ran toward Daddy. "Daddy, did you see that?"

"Yep. We better go inside. We'll come back out tomorrow afternoon for you to ride again." Daddy turned and started to walk toward the house.

I looked at my scooter and then at the hill. I could zoom down one more time and be back to the house before Daddy reached the front door.

I hurriedly hopped onto the scooter and pushed off. I headed down the hill, but the wheels were crooked. Suddenly the scooter hit a rock and stopped, but I kept going. I flew over the top and crashed to the ground, catching myself with my right hand.

"Chloe! Are you all right?" Daddy ran up and knelt beside me.

"Daddy, the rock came outta nowhere." I sat up and moved my right arm. "Ouch"

"What hurts?"

I stretched out my right arm and realized that wasn't a good idea. Tears dripped down my face. "Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry."

"Come on. We need to get that arm checked out."

The next several hours were a blur. Emergency room. X-rays. And a cast on my arm. My wrist was broken. I wouldn't be riding my scooter for a long time.

******************************
Chloe got in a hurry and became careless. Have you ever had a time when you've gotten into a hurry and been careless? What happened?

Chloe should have obeyed her daddy. Now she has to deal with a broken wrist. What kind of problems do you think a broken wrist will create for Chloe?

Still Hard to Do

"Okay, Class. Time for reading to self. We're all trying to get fifteen minutes of reading. Some of you are doing really well. Others just need to keep trying." Mrs. Taylor looked at me and winked.

I took a big breath and blew it out.

"What's the matter, Chloe?" Brayden said.

"Fifteen minutes is ... forever."

"Naw. Just do like me. Really concentrate on your book." Brayden opened his book and stared at it.

"I'll try."

We all found a spot and started to read.

When I felt like my eyes started to look around and my mouth began to open, I stuck my book up higher in front of my face. I mashed my lips together real hard. Don't talk. Don't talk. 

Finally the timer went off.

"I made it!"

Brayden patted my back. "Good job."

***********
Later we worked more on coins. Mrs. Taylor gave us a paper with all kinds of coins on it. The directions said to color each one a different color.

I started with the pennies, coloring them yellow.

"I think it's weird that the dime is smaller than the penny. The dime is ten cents and the penny is only one cent," Angela said.

" I know what you mean. Seems like the coin makers were trying to trick us."

******************
"Momma, do you want to know how you can remember how to spell arithmetic?"

"Sure."

"Mrs. Taylor taught us this sentence: A rat in the house might eat the ice cream. Did you get it?"

"Get what?"

"If you take the first letter of each word, it spells arithmetic."

"Oh, I see."

"Do you want to hear a joke?"

"All right."

"One guy asked his waiter: 'What is this fly doing in my soup?' The waiter said, 'I believe he's swimming.' Isn't that funny?"

Momma chuckled. "Yep."

"I've got another one. Why did the gum cross the road?"

"Um, I don't know."

"It was stuck to the chicken's foot." I laughed. "Here's a good one. Why do hummingbirds hum?"

"Let me see."

"Because they don't know the words. That's a good one too, right?"

"Yes, that's a good one."

"Let me find another one."

"Sweetie, why don't you put the joke book away for a little while. How about you set the table?"

"Okay, Momma. I'll read you some more later."

"Where did the joke book come from?"

"Oh, I found it at Mrs. Brooks' house. She let me borrow it."

"How nice." Momma smiled a little smile and nodded. Her voice didn't quite match her words.

*****************************
Chloe tries very hard to be quiet and keep reading for fifteen minutes. What is something you have had to try very hard to do? What did you have to do to accomplish it?

Why do you think Momma's voice didn't quite match her words when she said how nice about the joke book? Explain.

Chloe's Coloring Pages

Please go to the Chloe's Stuff tab and scroll down to find two coloring pages Chloe wants to share with you.

Have fun! Share with your friends!

I Need a Job

Momma scooped two chocolate chip pancakes onto my plate. "Chloe, I'm sorry we didn't get to go anywhere for your Spring Break. Peyton is still a bit too little to go any place. And with the hospital bills that we have to pay since he came early, we just needed to watch our money."

My mouth was full of pancake, so I just nodded. But I thought about what Momma had said. I probably needed to help out.

After breakfast I knew exactly what to do. "Momma, I'm gonna go to the Brooks' house. Okay?"

"Okay, dear."

I sprinted across the back yard, jogged onto the back porch, and knocked.

Mr. Brooks slid the door open. "Well, if it isn't our neighbor, Miss Chloe Ann. Come in."

"Thanks, Mr. Brooks. I needed to speak with you and Mrs. Brooks."

Mr. Brooks' forehead wrinkled even more than usual. "Of course. Let's go to the study."

I followed close behind him.

"Honey, Miss Chloe Ann wants to speak with us on some matter."

Mrs. Brooks patted the couch beside her. "Sit down here with me, Chloe."

I eased next to her. "I'll get right to the point. I need a job."

Mrs. Brooks' eyes widened. "A job, you say?"

"Yes. It seems that the kid was really expensive, which is why we couldn't take a trip for Spring Break. If you ask me, Momma should've thought of that before she ordered him. I wondered if you have any work for me?"

Mrs. Brooks crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her chin with one finger. "Let me see. I could use someone to dust these bookshelves." She motioned toward them. "I can train you and then offer ten dollars."

I sat up straighter. "Yes, I'll take it."

Mrs. Brooks smiled. "Then you're hired."

"I could use a good stick-picker-upper. Do you think you could handle that?" Mr. Brooks' eyebrows rose. "With the many sticks out there, I'd pay ten dollars as well."

"Oh yes. I'm a good picker-upper."

Mrs. Brooks rubbed her hands together. "It's settled." She reached her hand toward me. "Shall we shake on it?"

I grabbed her hand and gave it a firm shake.

*********************
Why do you think Chloe felt like she needed to get a job?

Do you think Chloe will be helping the Brooks by doing the chores? Explain.