Zoo Trip

Zilla is 5 yrs. old

Mega is 2 yrs. old

This week Zilla ended up having just 1 1/2 days of school.
Monday - national holiday 
Tuesday - snow day
Wednesday - 1/2 day as the preschool had something for next year's new students in the afternoon
Thursday - regular full day
Friday - 5 yr. old class to Disneyland 
The 3 yr. old and 4 yr. old classes were cancelled so the teachers can help with the class trip.  Each "grade" at Zilla's school has about 70 kids divided into 3 classes.


Since Zilla had so much "free" time this week I knew Friday he needed to get out of the house.  It was cold - about 5 deg. C with a cold wind - but the kids don't seem to notice the temperature when there is something fun to do!

So, we headed to the zoo. We haven't been there in a while but judging by how well the kids did on this trip we'll probably be going more often!

 As preparation before going we watched the Signing Time Leah's Farm and Zoo Train DVDs.  I also made up a new set of animal flashcards from the Classroom Edition.  The refresher course (for me and Zilla) was a great help as Mega was really on top of her animal signs!

I have a bit more about the signing aspect of our visit over at the Kotoba & Sign blog.

We were able to see the pandas.  Since the zoo wasn't crowded we were able to stand around and watch for as long as we liked. 

 When your 2 yr old can "read" and animal pictures on the map she somehow ends up being the tour guide...

Zilla and Mega both really enjoyed the new polar bear exhibit.  It has been "fixed up" nicely since our last visit and we arrived at feeding time! 

 Signing "turtle" on a turtle.

The petting zoo ended up being their favorite part of the day.  Neither kids wanted to touch the animals at first but they were very careful and warmed up to the animals pretty quickly!