Sofia 1st Grade Zoo Field Trip

Today Sofia had her 1st Grade field trip to the Dallas Zoo. I asked Claire and Mr. Chreno if they wanted a ride since I can park for free and I enjoy both of their company. Mr. Chreno actually bought us Starbucks and gave them to us at the school just as we headed out! It was so sweet! The drive went smoothly and we arrived at the zoo and met up with the rest of the parents. Apparently all but two parents were able to make it to the zoo from Mrs. Schultz class! Finally the kiddos arrived and we headed into the zoo. Since there were so many parents, each parent was responsible for their own child. Sofia and Reagan wanted to stick together, so Brigette and I talked about where to go first. Brigette and Reagan had never been to the Dallas Zoo, so I suggested we start with the Savannah and see the elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, and cheetahs.

Of course the girls had fun playing by the elephant fountain and watched the penguins and gorillas before heading to the metal elephants, where I think I could have left Sofia for the day. She absolutely loves climbing on the elephants and it wasn't busy with kids yet. We let her play for a bit then went on to see the real animals. Reagan is a sweet girl and Sofia and she seem to get along well. Reagan is a bit more reserved and wanted to be with her Mom the entire time, while Sofia was happy to run ahead and frankly wouldn't notice if I stayed behind or not. We watched others try to feed the giraffes (they didn't seem very hungry) and were able to get a great view of the cheetah! We also saw the male lion on top of the rock! Of course, the girls were most interested in climbing the rocks so we let them for a bit.

From there, we headed into the aviaries and saw the alligators and walked through an area of the zoo I've only seen from the tram. Once on the other side, we were next to the tram and one of the foot courts, so we decided to eat since both girls were starving! They had been complaining for about 30 minutes! I'd packed PB&J sandwiches for both of us but found that they had become sort of gross balls in my backpack. Sofia took one look and said "I'm not eating that." and I couldn't blame her! Instead, I bought a cheeseburger that Sofia and I split and it was delicious! The first real burger Sofia has eaten. Of course, while I ordered the burger and Sofia sat with Brigette and Reagan, she made a little fly zone by putting out pieces of oranges and bananas out for the flies to enjoy.

After lunch, we had a little less than an hour before we needed to meet the class back at the entrance so we decided to go to the kids zoo area. Once there, Sofia noticed the science lab which we've never really visited before. We went inside and it was really interesting with all sorts of gems, bones, shells, etc. It was really interesting and Sofia loved it. Our time was soon up so we headed back to to the entrance where each of the three classes took group pictures before loading back onto the bus. It was such a fun day and it was such fun to hang out with Sofia and her friend Reagan.

Sofia's favorite bird, a macaw

Sofia's classmates making silly faces

Sofia is ready for a fun day!

Sofia and her buddy Allen!

The real elephants

Reading up on the elephants

The giraffes

Watching the leopard lounge

Sofia and the leopard

Sofia with Reagan on the rocks. They loved to climb everything.

With the majestic lion on the background!

Climbing on the alligator

The girls under attack!

Climbing on the rocks again!

Sofia and her classmates get ready to head home after a fun day!