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Ane’s Field Trip

To the zoo we go!  Again.  Hey, at least we don’t end up paying for these field trips since we’re members!

Rerun went with me this time, and we arrived well ahead of the school buses.  He spent the time honing his drumming skills.

When the school buses finally arrived, there were so many parent chaperones that each parent was only responsible for two or three kids each.  I had Ane (of course) and her friend Rei-chan.

The girls have been in class together ever since kindergarten, so I know Rei-chan well through my years of volunteering.  And I have met her mom many times.  And Rei-chan knows Rerun, since she remembers when he was show-and-tell in their kindergarten year and has seen him often since.

Only keeping tabs on two kids, plus Rerun, meant that we could set a pretty relaxed pace.  Ane was more than willing to let Rei-chan pick what she wanted to see, since Ane is so familiar with the zoo and all of its offerings.  Being there on an overcast day, when the animals are willing to move around, and on a weekday, meant that we got to see some fun things.  We caught a few feeding times by accident – the penguins were hand-fed some fish by a keeper, the bears were tossed some steak, and the river otters got the best lunch of all, because they had live fish poured into their stream to eat.  The girls and I thought that was a lot of fun to watch!  Plus, we FINALLY saw a red panda moving around in their exhibit!  I’ve been joking for months that the red pandas must be stuffed animals, because they have always been sleeping up in their trees when we’re there.  And they are so cute!  I didn’t get my camera out quick enough to snap a picture, though.

Rerun was fascinated by the toucans in the rain forest exhibit today, because two of them were just squaking and singing at each other.  The girls thought it was too loud, but Rerun didn’t want to leave.  It was so unusual to hear them, and they are so brightly colored and pretty.  I had to carry Rerun away.

We saw the gorillas…

… and the flamingos…

… and after we saw the komodo dragons (which Rerun still insists on calling a dinosaur – I can’t blame him), the girls posed for me on the komodo dragon statue.

When the kids all got back on the bus, Rerun and I hung around for a little while longer.  The giraffes were out posing on the savanna.

Rerun was more interested in reading letters off the globe in the mock-up classroom in the African village.

And yes, he carted Mater and McQueen through the zoo with him.

Overall, a successful field trip!  No one got lost, everyone was entertained, it didn’t rain, and Rerun took a decent nap in the car and then in his crib at home.

One Response to “Ane’s Field Trip”

  1. Aunt Lynda
    June 20th, 2012 10:10
    1

    Where’s the ‘like’ button?