Field Trip with X

I'm so glad I was chosen to be a chaperone for Xander's field trip to the Smithsonian National Zoo because we had a blast! The kids decided to engage in some mental preparation as we waited for the buses to arrive.

Xander with two of his best buds, Devin and Maleek.

Unfortunately one of the buses never made it and all the teachers, kids, and chaperones had to squeeze in tight to get us all down there. That, along with the pouring rain on the drive down, had me feeling a little apprehensive as to how this day was going to go. Thank goodness the rain let up as soon as we stepped off the bus and we had great weather the remainder of our time there.

I love seeing the pandas because not that many zoos have them.

The cheetahs are gorgeous but after seeing them in action at the Cinci zoo, lounging cheetahs just doesn't cut it.

A funny moment came when all the boys were on a scale to see how close their combined weight came to an elephant's and I stepped on to try to get their weight higher. As soon as I jumped on the scale the number jumped another 250 pounds and I was thinking to myself, "What???". Turns out Devin's dad, unbeknownst to me, had jumped on at the same time. For a few seconds there I had thought it might be time to lay off the donuts. And even though the boys thought they were as strong as an elephant, it took Devin's dad helping out to get them a little closer to moving this tire.

Ahhhh, that cute little face!

Maleek's mom got this little guy to come down and play patty cake with her. So cute! Of course when the boys tried it he wanted nothing to do with them and ran off.

My favorite - the gorillas. This one was busy playing some kind of computer game.

Xander cracks me up.

The reptile house was a big hit with the boys.

Xander was fascinated with the anaconda. So gross!

Acting goofy at the waterfall.

Xander's drinking buddy.

The best photo bomb of the day!

I thought this male lion was absolutely magnificent!

It was feeding time for the female lions and all of them were busy chowing downs big hunks of meat.

We even got to see a little fight over the goods.

We finished up the day comparing hands to paws...

checking out a T. Rex's skull...

and doing some shopping. The boys were all too happy to show off their zoo purchases, even the little monkey in the middle!

It was a long ride home but the day had been a lot of fun. I love when I get to spend extra time with my Xanderman.