Zoo Field Trip

The rain held off until the last thirty minutes of our zoo field trip yesterday.  Going to the Zoo is a big ordeal for our school because it means that we take a fifty minute bus ride one way, to have two hours and fifteen minutes at the zoo (which includes stopping to have lunch) before we have to board the bus to trek back fifty minutes to be home by 2pm so that the buses can then zip over to the other school campus' that get out within that hour.

Both of my children have been on a zoo field trip during their second grade year.  It was just a whole lot of hurry.  So when it was announced that the third graders were going back this year, my son and I were a little bummed. We love the zoo, but it is a long way for such a short excursion.

However, I am happy to report both my son and I had the best time!  There were no have to's about the trip; no scheduled tours, no scheduled lectures, no scheduled break for lunch.  We got to roam free with our group of four and that made all the difference.

A handful of times my son leaned in to whisper to me, "We have the best group!" and I couldn't have agreed more.  The girls were the leaders with the zoo map, and they took into account all of the Must Have To See lists from the group.  Not persuading anyone from one thing or another, we got to see exactly what each wanted.  And the most impressive part was that they took time at each stop along the way.  To the point when I was privately thinking, "Okay, can we move along?" but they kept talking and sharing their knowledge about what they were observing and read to each other some of the literature posted.  It was fantastic.

The down pour came at the new Penguin exhibit so we admittedly rushed through that to get to the Bug House.  Although warm and dry from the outside elements, it was my very least favorite.  Bugs.  Ughs.  Once the storm had passed to a more reasonable shower, we high tailed it back to the bus to head home.  A successful trip!

Students were allowed to bring cameras, so here are some of the pictures snapped by my son: