Zoo trip with the first grade; William's piano recital

I went on my very first field trip on Tuesday, with William! Matt went on Evie's first one, and then the last two years he's been out of town; Evie's trip this year was the day after Matt had his knee surgery, so that was out - so I was very glad to be able to go with all the Kindergartners and 1st graders to the National Zoo! Let me say, there is nothing quite like the din of a bunch of shrieking 1st grade girls on a motor coach. By the time we got back, my head was about to roll off my neck :) I do believe a good time was had by all though. We loaded up the buses just before 9am and rolled out of Mayberry towards DC. William sat with his "BFF" Ryan...

Once we got there we ate a quick (and early!) lunch, and then headed out to see the sights - this cheetah stood in this tree for quite a while...

the otters were wrestling each other...

William and some fellow classmates posed with the bronze otters...

 

 We got a close-up look at various bugs...

William wanted to visit the bird house & we saw lots of bright tropical birds...

The stinky ape house was empty, as all the apes were outside or otherwise 'busy' (more on that in a minute), but this orangutan was out in the sun for a bit...

The rain forest exhibit had a lot of neat things to see including rays...

Yum, chocolate :)

I had a really fun day with William, and was so glad for the opportunity to spend a whole day just with him - a rare treat in our house. I hope he enjoyed our day together as much as I did :)

Some points of interest about our trip:

• Motor coaches with potties are endlessly interesting for 1st graders. We weren't 10 minutes out of the school parking lot before William was off to use the bus bathroom.

• William thought the zoo was ok, but he was disappointed there were no sheep.

• Orangutans have no shame. In one building, the 'Think Tank', Kyle and Bettie the orangutans apparently thought the big glass room they were in was a perfect location for some 'afternoon delight'. I swear I did a double-take, realized what was going on, and then hustled William out of there before he could ask any questions. Yikes. Can we at least have some privacy curtains in there or something?
  
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William had his second piano recital on Monday, and I must say he amazes me - maybe it's his age, maybe it's just him, but he just gets right up there and plays, proud as can be :) I may be biased, but I think he's got some talent, too - hopefully I'll be able to keep him playing!

After the recital was over, Evie told us that she wants to take lessons again - because she misses being the center of attention at the recital. I told her that if she's serious, she can start reviewing her old songs before I arrange for lessons again. I haven't heard her play one note yet :)