A Field Trip to the Zoo!

Last Monday Ajay's pre-k class took a field trip to the always awesome zoo. Alex and I were allowed to come along and spend our morning with the 4-5 year old set. I had Alex in his stroller and Ajay alongside, plus we were assigned a friend. We walked around with Skyler and his younger sister, Rowan. Rowan, just 5 weeks or so younger than Alex, was pushed in her stroller by their mother, Shiloh. They were assigned a friend, also, so there were 6 kids and two mom's in our group. It was quite the adventure! The bigger kids loved running around so of course the little kids wanted out of their strollers. We were brave a couple of times and let them be free, too. 6 kids between 2 and 4 years old running wild. It was cute. In the photo below you'll find our 6 kids plus a couple of other boys from their class who were passing by.



We were trying to get to the gorillas when we realized it was time to head back to the other side of the zoo to meet up with the class for lunch. We hit the restrooms so the kids could wash up, then zoomed back to join the circle. The teachers had ordered cheese pizzas plus had a bottle of water and bag of chips for everyone. After lunch, there was a pack of Oreos for dessert ("we-zert" as Ajay calls it). As the kids were gathered, the adults acted as guards trying to keep the geese away. One sneaked in anyway. You can imagine the havoc it wreaked! It grabbed a pizza from someone's plate and one little girl took off screaming. Surprisingly, the rest of the kids remained calm for awhile, but then they realized what was happening. We had to get the goose to go away then corral the kids back into their circle and reassure them that everything was fine. Ajay came up to me a bit later and said his heart was beating fast because it was so scary! Poor kids.



Alex didn't eat his pizza. I figured he wouldn't, so I packed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Good ole PB&J to the rescue!



After lunch we had some more free time but had to be back within the hour to get the kids to story time. Shiloh and I hightailed it over to the gorilla exhibit (remember, on the other side of the zoo?). We took in the hippos and a few other sights then met up for their story. We were a little late.
The class went for their story and whatever else was planned while the smaller siblings were sent to the corner. I mean the play corner. There were some things for the kiddos to do and see and the parents all sat around saying "Wow, that time went by fast!" and "Whew, I'm beat!"
When the story time was over it was time to head home. Before everyone left, they got a class photo.



Ajay wanted to ride the bus back to the school instead of going home with Alex and I let him. Of course Alex fell asleep 2 minutes after we pulled away and I regretted not having Ajay with us. I took Alex home and put him into his crib, nabbed our neighbor to sit on our couch while he slept, then took off for the school to get Ajay.
It was a fun day, and I'm glad we have our zoo membership - I think the kids will get a lot of enjoyment out of it this year!