December 19th--first field trip

Erik's class took their first field trip today. They read, for much of the fall, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory during their read aloud time. They already had a celebration party after finishing it, and now it was time for the field trip.

The best place in the Bay Area for a field trip for a chocolate factory is the Scharffen Berger factory in Berkeley (they also have the best chocolate around, in my opinion!) However, they won't do any tours for kids under 10. The Jelly Belly Factory also has tours, and includes chocolate making, but it's a bit of a drive for the younger kids. So someone found Charles Chocolates in Emeryville, a quick drive away. As they pointed out in the tour, they are chocolatiers, not chocolate makers, so we didn't actually watch any chocolate itself being made. However, we did watch them make different creations with the chocolate. For the most part on the day we were there, they were making caramel apples, which aren't even sold in stores--they're something one can order right now on the Williams-Sonoma site. (Ah, yes, there they are.)

The "tour", which was really more of an information session where we could observe the kitchen, was enjoyed by the kids. Afterwards they were each able to buy about $3 worth of chocolate (if their parents had sent money or were with on the trip--I think all the kids got some), and $3 was about 2 pieces. Erik was fine choosing the one thing he could have that didn't have dairy. Then we went to a local park to have lunch and play. The kids had a great time!

I had intentions to take more pictures, but keeping track of Anders and caring for CeeCee during the tour was tricky, and by the time we got to the park, I just wanted to relax and enjoy. So here's one kind of bad picture of Erik watching the process.