Lost Episode: the Minnesota Zoo field trip

 We went to the zoo for an official homeschool field trip in October.

As in, it was specifically for homeschool families, put on by the Minnesota Zoo.  It was so fun to have a field trip to look forward to!

The kids couldn't wait to get there.  Plus, Nate took the day off so we got to go all together.

First there were starfish to touch.

A leafy seadragon.

 Medtronic now sponsors a large portion of the zoo - the entire Minnesota wildlife section, actually - and wow, was it dolled up compared to the last time we were there.  Now it's like walking through a beautiful log cabin.

Really, it is such an improvement.  A hundred years ago when we visited, this hallway was concrete and creepy.

Coyote.

Wolf.

No kidding.

*sigh*  Bald Eagle, so amazing to see up close.

There were a variety of activities and hands-on fun stuff for the students, and Viggo tried jumping as far as a mountain lion could.

The baby lynx.  Look how big those feet are.

I kind of wanted to take this thing home.  Their ears always make me think of some sort of creature from Narnia.

 Meet Coconut, the cockatoo.
The kids loved Coconut.  She did some fun tricks and was so sweet.

And this is a Hyacinth Macaw.  Elin loved those big orange eyes.

Then we went to the tropics, another part of the zoo that had a major renovation at some point while we were out in Delaware.  Here we have a lemur.

I watched this guy for quite some time and I don't think he ever blinks.

Elin was fascinated with him (a West African Dwarf Crocodile).  She couldn't stop saying she was scared of it, but she couldn't stop staring at it either.

 The expressions on the faces of these guys was so entertaining.

I can almost imagine this little guy smoking a pipe.

Then we found something terrible.

Can you see it?

A Komodo Dragon.

Seeing this Komodo resulted in two nights of Svea not wanting to fall asleep because she thought this thing was going to come and eat her.  It didn't matter how much we tried to reason with her:
The Komodo Dragon can't drive a car.  It can't walk out of the zoo.  It can't even leave it's pen.  There is no way possible it could survive out of the zoo in the freezing cold anyway.  They are not native to Minnesota, or ever North America, for that matter.

It didn't matter.  She cried and protested.  She was going to be eaten.

I was not expecting that type of reaction from her.  She saves all the drama for bedtime.

 Viggo had worksheets to fill out about the animals as we made our way through the zoo.

Tortoises.

A zebra shark.  I can't figure this one out.  It has spots, not stripes - why the name?

Love this fish!!

 Russian wild boar, anyone?

Then we hit the trail outside.

Svea was excited to see the caribou.

"Mom, is that the caribou from Caribou Coffee?"

Sure it is, honey!

Svea then did a caribou call.

The caribou didn't give a reaction, but she freaked the moose out a little.

Now there's a nose.

A sleepy fox.

And resting camels.  It seemed to be naptime.

Prairie dogs!  These guys were so fun to watch.

They are really quick too.

This is a Takin, a goofy cow/goat type of creature from the Himalayas.

Viggo does a reasonably good Takin impersonation.

We ended with another favorite, the sea otters.  They were being fed so this one actually stayed still for a moment while it chewed so I could get a picture.

We had such a great time and hope that the MN zoo offers another homeschool day next year!