Zoo Camp

Hurray for summer! To kick it off, we spent the first week at Zoo Camp.  Bright and early every morning, Ryan gets dropped off with his little group led by some extremely peppy college girls.  Every morning during drop off time, they sit on a blanket and play a fun game, sing songs with sign language gestures and guess what item is in the mystery bag, which is their clue for what they will learn that day.

 Dylan impatiently waits off to the side and exclaims every few minutes, as a way to start conversation, "The alligator's back?"
"Yup."
"Not the crocodile."
 "Nope, not the crocodile."
 "He's so happy in his water!"
 "Yup!"
"Alligator a reptile?"
"Yup buddy, that's right."
"It not open yet?"
"Not yet, Ryan has to go first."

Then the little campers depart in their matching shirts, chanting their chants and singing their songs.  Then Dylan becomes the happiest boy on earth as we get to tour the zoo together, just him and me.  We've done some fun things while Ryan was in zoo camp.

Dylan found 50 cents so I ponied up a quarter so he could ride Simba.  It was the first time he has been on one of these rides and he was really impressed.

  We watched the elephants wrestle and play in their pond.

 We watched the polar bear swim.  He was amazing.  He was so graceful, trurning summersaults in the water, playing with his ball.

 

 We "oohed" and "ahhed," and I took a lot of pictures. Then he moved right in the light.  At first I was disapointed because I thought it would ruin my picture.  But then, it turned out all right.

Then it was time for Dylan's toddler class.  He learned about bugs vs. insects.  They sang songs about bugs and insects, including sign language and gestures.  They made a bug jar.  Ryan repeatedly complimented Dylan on his bug jar, and I'm not entirely sure there wasn't a bit of jealousy going on.   The next day in Dylan's class, he learned about farm animals.  He was able to pet a black rat snake, a chicken and a rabbit.

They made a muddy pig mask and learned about why pigs roll in the mud. Ryan has learned each day about a new type of animal: fish, reptiles and mammals, and has had some fun hands on experiences as well.  He also pet the rabbit, snake and got to pet a fox. Zoo camp ends very soon, but I'd say it was a great way to kick summer off.  Both kids came home bursting with new things to tell their dad.