The Lee Family: Olivia's Kindergarten Field Trip to the Zoo

Today was Olivia's Kindergarten Field Trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. For the past two weeks, Olivia has been proudly displaying all of her "zoo animal"- related school work her class has been working on. One of her worksheets had "What I think I'll see at the zoo" and a spot for her to draw, color and write two different animals followed by a "What I want to see at the zoo" and another spot for her to draw, color and write her animals. She really wanted to see the giraffes so she could "see Giraffey's family" as she explained and the lions. Another one of her worksheets had "If I worked at the zoo, I would.... and she wrote "pet the animals every day." She's so proud of her work and excited about the visit to the zoo.

Since it's always fun to go with a group, I ended up driving Marco, Casey, Shannon and Kate to and from the zoo. It ended up being a perfect day for a zoo visit with it clear and crisp in the morning and in the mid-70s by late morning. As a chaperone, I was responsible for two other girls including Olivia. Unfortunately, Mrs. Schultz was out sick, so Mrs. Coleman, Mercer's mom was the substitute teacher for the field trip. Once we arrived at the zoo, I found out from her that I would be with Olivia, Scout and Annabel. Scout was one of the girls in my group for our field trip to the Dallas Arboretum so I knew should is a little dramatic and wild. I know Annabel from gymnastics and have enjoyed getting to know her mom, Jennifer, while we wait together during the girls' gymnastics class. Both Annabel and Scout's moms work so I wanted to take pictures of the girls throughout the day and forward them to Jennifer and Kelley.

We met the kids just before 10am and were able to explore wherever we wanted until we had to meet back up at 1pm by the entrance. I asked each of the three girls what they most wanted to see during their visit, knowing Olivia's wishes already. Annabel really wanted to see the giraffes and elephants while Scout wanted to see the alligators. We started out by visiting the gorillas and primate house and then headed to visit the meerkats and were soon in front of the giraffes! One of the them was eating leaves off the ground and had his legs splayed out in front of him, and Olivia loved it. She'd never seen a giraffe eat like that and she was amazed. Across from the giraffes were the elephants and the hippo. The girls loved seeing all the animals, especially the hippo that was completely submerged in his pool of water. After the hippos, all three of the girls were complaining of how hungry they were and that they wanted to eat. It was only 10:30am, which is the usual time for lunch of the kindergarteners. We found a bench across from the elephants and pulled out the girls' lunches. Scout and Olivia just wanted to snack, while Annabel ate her sandwich and most of her lunch.

After they were done, we continued on our visit and headed to see the rhinos, white tigers and Bengal tigers and then came to the lions. The lions were having a party with paper streamers and decorations. The four female lions were playing with the decorations, which was really cool. The male lions in the enclosure next door also had decorations, but they weren't nearly as interested in playing with them. One was completely asleep on his side, enjoying the sun and the other roamed around. On the other side were the zebras and the antelopes. With the antelopes were two black African hornbills, who are impressively large birds! I asked the girls what they wanted to see next and they all agreed they wanted to see the sharks! I didn't remember a shark tank from prior visits, but the map indicated that it was ahead of us, before the kangaroos.

We continued walking and made it to the parakeet enclosure, where we could feed the birds. Technically we aren't supposed to buy the kids any souvenirs or gifts but a stick with bird food is only $1 each and I knew how much the girls would love it. Plus, it's not a souvenir but an experience. Each of the three girls bought a stick of bird food and we headed into the enclosure. It was a little nerve-wracking since it was very full of kids and parents and my three girls headed in different directions. They each loved it and had some very hungry birds eating off their sticks in no time. After the bird seed was all off, we headed out and washed our hands. The girls really enjoyed it and I was able to get a few cute pictures of them feeding the birds.

We got to the "Australian Exhibit" which included parrots, various fish and the sharks. So we finally made it to the sharks! However, when we looked inside the tank, there was just one shark maybe 2 feet long! The girls were more excited by the shard display than the actual shark, which isn't surprising. We left the shark and walked through the kangaroo area where all the kangaroos were sleeping. Outside the kangaroo enclosure was a kangaroo statue, which was a huge hit for the kids to climb on and they each wanted a picture taken. We walked through the aviary section and saw various birds, including a kookaburra and several interesting owls. The girls were all hungry again, so we sat down for another snack and to decide where to go next. They all agreed that they wanted to see the alligators and turtles, which was also closer to the main entrance where we planned to meet the rest of the class in about an hour.

The turtles, alligators and snacks were fascinating to the girls and really interesting. Since the animals like to hide in their enclosures, the girls loved trying to find them. One of the zoo workers had a small python that could be touched, so we stood in line to touch the snack. Annabel and Olivia were excited to touch the snake, but Scout didn't want to, so I told her that she didn't have to touch a snake. Once we got up to the python, each of the girls felt the python's tail and really thought it was cool! After, the girls each took turns taking photos with my phone of their favorite animals, which of course got a little out of control and I soon had a few hundred photos on my phone. So, I had to allow each girl two more photos before taking my phone away.

I took a picture of Olivia by a little tree where I took a similar photo of Sofia when she took her Kindergarten field trip. Then, the girls ate the last of their food and then we headed to meet their classmates. I made sure the girls all went to the bathroom and had some water before they left. Olivia had her water bottle with her but the other girls brought juice and milk, so they were both really thirsty by the time the field trip was over. Next time, I'll pack extra waters for all the kids.

We haphazardly took a class photo and then said goodbye to our kiddos. Olivia got a little sad and didn't want to say goodbye, so I told her that we would get ice cream after they got back to school and I picked her up. After I picked up the girls at school, Olivia told me she sat next to Gracie on the bus and they both slept on the drive back to school. We took Sofia to her eye exam to get her new glasses and then we stopped by Baskin-Robbins for much-needed ice cream after a fun day!

The girls looking at the gorilla