The Hughes News: Field Trip to the Zoo

I was asked to be a chaperone for the 4th-6th grade field trip to the zoo on Oct. 24th. I was a chaperone for the 4th grade (Morgan's) class. I was in charge of 5 students: Clancy H., Bryson S., Daniela E., Morgan, and Talynn L.

Everyone had to play with the water ball as we went into the zoo. It was a very cold day, so the kid's hands were freezing when they were done. lol At least it didn't rain or snow on us while we were there. As long as you kept your coat on it wasn't too bad. The kids in my group were pretty much on a dead run from exhibit to exhibit, so we didn't have many problems with staying warm. lol

The kids were pretty excited to see the baby elephant. We went there first.

The kids were so funny. It all started by taking this picture of the kids on the Rhino statue. (They couldn't believe that I had a picture of me when I was little on this same Rhino.) We had to take pictures by every single statue in the zoo after that. They'd see a statue and all run to pose or get the best spot. Made me laugh. :)

The kids LOVED the polar bear. His name is Rizzo. He would swim up to the glass, pop up out of the water (like in the picture), push off with his feet and swim a ways back, flip back over and do it over, and over, and over again. It was quite entertaining to watch.

These two brown bears looked like they were having quite a conversation.

My group by the bears.

And on the bear statues.

The bats were all huddled in the corner by the glass. The kids thought that was pretty awesome, even if it made them hard to see.

This little guy was born in February. He looked like a spoiled little housecat all snuggled on the blanket that way. The girls thought he was so cute!

We hiked up the hill to see the tigers.

And take a picture with the tiger statue.

The kids were also amazed that I had my picture taken when I was little getting a drink from the same lion fountain. lol

The girls wanted to have their picture taken without the boys by the seal statue.

We have this exact picture of Morgan a few years earlier. I couldn't believe that a giraffe was sitting in about the same spot as the last time we took our kids to the zoo. Morgan was probally 5 then. She has had it on her magnent board in her room. I had to take this picture. :)

With giraffes being Morgan's favorite animal, she was so excited to see the baby giraffe that was born earlier this year.

The kids in the Eagle's nest.

By the Eagle statue.

And my little sweetie bird in her nest. :)

This elephant is always a favorite for the kids. Instead of water, the elephant blows air. It was scaring the crap out of the kids. We got a good laugh out of it!

By the gorilla statue. They all wanted to be on his head or shoulders. lol

Morgan's wing span was the size of an adolescent gorilla.

I fit the proportions for the adult female gorilla. :)

This peacock was just wandering around. The boys wanted to catch it, and were disappointed when I wouldn't let them. Poor thing looked like it had been through something traumatic.

We had some time left after we finished seeing all the animals, so the kids decided they wanted to go see the polar bear again. When we got back to Rizzo, we found a zoo keeper who takes care of the seals, and Rizzo. She was wonderful. She answered all their questions, and was very patient with them. I was surprised at how many of the students from our school had never been to the zoo before (my nephew among them--although he's been to a Nascar race. lol). The kids all learned something, myself included! It was very informative.

She told them all about the seals. The biggest one is blind and moves around by the sound of their voices. He got in the water and swam around. The kids were pretty impressed he didn't run into anything!