Field Trip to Hogle Zoo

Aren't sloths adorable? Today I was lucky enough to get to go with Carter's kindergarten class to the Hogle Zoo! I knew we were going on a bus and I was picturing those diesel smelling sticky vinyl seat school buses. Actually we rode in a fancy bus that had tv screens, comfy seats that even reclined and had footrests. It was an awesome ride. The kids were excited to get to the zoo and I was probably just as excited as they were. I had a group of 4-5 kids and another adult with me half the time. We had such a blast! I had asked the kids to each pick the animal that they wanted to see the most. That way I'd make sure they each got to see what they wanted to see. We kept a comfortable but determined pace and we ended up seeing everything at the zoo except the bird show so I was thrilled! I just didn't know if all the kids would ever visit there again so I wanted to make sure we made the most of the day. We definitely did. Their little legs were tired at the end and the pace slowed quite a bit but we still saw everyones' favorite things and a lot after that even. There were many primates, reptiles, and larger animals as well. The meerkats were a favorite for the kids and of course the cute tamarins were too. They also really enjoyed seeing the bigger animals like the giraffes, bears and zebras though my group wasn't all that impressed with the elephants for some reason. They LOVED the cougar which was actually scary! We got to the enclosure and the cougar (mountain lion) opened its mouth and made a threatening noise and came right on over. It obviously saw them as prey. I thought of those recent attacks in cali where little kids were literally dragged out of the park sand box by a mountain lion. So scary! In the reptile room there was a springtime lesson going on with the large tortoises so we detoured and saw all the snakes, lizards, porcupines, etc and then came back to see the tortoises later. While we were in the reptile building this sloth was hanging overhead. I got some great pictures of the kids right underneath it. So neat to be so close! I'm serious, it wasn't even behind glass or anything! It was just literally hanging out above the little bridge that you cross to go from one part of the reptile building to the other. So cute! Physically I held out pretty well! Of course, I had been a bit worried thinking what if I need to rest or something but actually I felt great while I was there! Now I feel tired but while I was there I was just too excited and too hyper-vigilant to feel it. I was hawk eyed the whole time to make sure I had everyone. I felt a huge responsibility since I knew if I hadn't been able to go on the field trip I would have been praying that the person watching over my kids was taking it that seriously. I'm just not the kind to let the kids run off at the playground and then count later. We stayed together and saw/did everything section by section. I even had my first aid kit and stuff. Luckily there was no need to use it. :-) The kids seemed to have a blast! It was a really fun day and I'm really thrilled that I got to experience it.