Monday, June 12th - Our First Non-School Monday!

I have been on a roll with getting AA with her friends aka "play-dates". So far three days in a row! Today was a trip to the zoo with Connor W. We took him to the CattyShack on March 23rd and the Zoo on February 25th and then Connor's family (and sister Courtney) kept AA at the Clay Fair and took her to dinner on April 7th. So they really enjoy being together.
This trip to the zoo had completely different weather, cloudy and warm, about 84 degrees. There were many things to do differently this trip (all the LEGO creatures/animals were gone) - the new Campground Critter show, we tried a different restaurant, we saw the 4D show, we fed the birds for first time, etc. We arrived early and walked through different exhibits and arrived for the Campground Critter show before 11:00 a.m. It was pretty funny which included trained cats! With the rain sprinkles, I put away my good camera and used my phone. 
Right after arriving, walking from the parking lot, we encountered this sweet sea turtle:

When we walked in the main gate, they always take your photo to purchase:

Feeding the birds, very cool having them land on you and drink the nectar; Connor had the first bird land on him:

AA had to wait awhile; maybe the birds weren't awake yet! But then she had lots of birds;

We were told this one was born with the missing colored feathers and is the leader of the bird flock!

Campground Critter show:

The show began by introducing the Camp "Staff" - all animals. Also, a pig, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, an owl named Captain (the security guard!) and many birds performed tricks. While we waited in line, a lady told us her daughter's friend works at the Zoo and said this was the same program they use at SeaWorld, very professional. These two photos were about a bird that knew math; a kid in the crowd gave a simple math problem and the bird solved it.

Even with the rain, we made it through many exhibits including the 4D LEGO movie and two carousel rides. We thought there was to be an elephant chat but with the zoo under a storm watch, most things were cancelled.

After lunch, the rain was steady and and things like the sting ray pool was look only, no hands in the water, the train stopped so we wandered around a little. By 2:00 p.m. the thunder and lightening came while we were looking at the Komodo dragons! The temperature dropped to 73 degrees and we headed for the car! A fun day cut short so went to DQ for a Blizzard (Connor had his "usual" he said - chocolate chip ice cream with cookie dough! AA had a mint chocolate chip Blizzard!). Happy kids!

Will think of some more fun activities to go to with friends!