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Kids come to work with Amazon parents
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Four-year-old Andrew high-fives grandmother Melisa Newsome during the "Proud of My Parents" tour at Amazon Turlock's MCE1 fulfillment center on Thursday (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

Five-year-old Kingston sat in a break room at Turlock’s Amazon fulfillment center Thursday, battling a slice of pepperoni pizza nearly as big as he is.

Kingston was one of 10 children, ages 4 to 7 , who joined their parents as part of Amazon’s “Proud of My Parent” tour, an opportunity for kids to go behind the scenes and see firsthand exactly what it is that their parents do all day.

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Five-year-old Kingston enjoys a snack following the tour (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

So, Kingston, what was your favorite part of the tour?

“The airplanes,” replied Kingston, in between a sip of chocolate milk.

Airplanes? Amazon has airplanes?

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Kingston’s mom, Nichari Holcombe said with a chuckle.

The special guests were fitted with safety vests, boots and even got their own I.D. badges. Then they set out for their hour-long tour through the 1 million-square-foot facility — quite a trek for little tikes.

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Five-year-old Sofia shows off her Amazon I.D. badge (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

Four-year-old Andrew stood slack-jawed as he watched his grandmother Melisa Newsome operate machinery when the tour stopped at her usual work station. 

Five-year-old Fox smiled broadly as his mother, Jazy Quick, pointed out various machines, as did 5-year-old Rosy when her mother, Jackie Estrada, did likewise.

So, Rosy, what did you think of Amazon’s MCE1 fulfillment center?

“It’s bigger and cooler,” exclaimed Rosy. “I love it.”

Almost as much as the Amazon employees.

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Ten children, ages 4 to 7, joined their parents at Turlock's MCE1 fulfillment center on Thursday as part of Amazon’s “Proud of My Parent” tour (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

“We aimed to do this between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, when the kids are out of school and there’s a little more flexibility with their schedules,” said Amazon’s general manager assistant Patty Vega, who was quite popular when she wheeled in several boxes of pizza just after the tour. “It was just amazing to see the excitement on their faces.”