We slept with the Sharks and the Penguins and the Octopus and lived to tell about it; I think the fact they stayed in the tanks helped!
Our Girl Scout troop has talked all year about our big plan to spend the night at the Zoo. It was the incentive to sell cookies, limit our number of field trips during the year and I think the reason some girls stuck out the first year of Brownies. We have a great Zoo and often we take for granted the chance to see the animals, but getting the chance to have a night tour, sleep in the Aquarium and learn more about the inner workings of the Zoo is hard to pass up.
Miss A was thrilled to think that we'd be sleeping with the animals. I, of course, was most happy that once again I'd convinced a troop of girl scouts that "sleeping inside with air conditioning and flushing toilets" is still camping. In July those this are non negotiable in my book. My favorite part of the sleeping part was that Miss A still wanted to have her sleeping bag next to mine. I'm wise enough to know that those days are fleeting. We choose a quiet corner by the Penguins and, after a night hike and a movie, I was ready for some sleep. Thankfully, the fish like to sleep at night too. They just get up a lot earlier than I would like, but then so do a bunch of 2nd grade girls.
My favorite part of the Zoo Overnight was our morning hike before breakfast. We got to see some of the animals before they were really awake and ready for viewing. It was amazing. I'm really glad though that we didn't have to see the Bats sleeping! A close second in favorites is probably all the hand holding that happens when you get a bunch of young girls together. You tell them to "find a buddy" and they take the job seriously. I love seeing how girls through the ages stay the same; I can remember my Girl Scout field trips and holding hands with my friends.
I'll admit that I learned a lot about the Zoo and Animals on this field trip. I'm not really what you would call and animal person and hearing our tour guide explain the animals more in depth and hear about the unique ways they were created to live in their native environments was amazing. I loved how their diets are so catered to the areas of the world they live and how even the color of their skin and fur are natural protections for them from predators. All of this makes me more in awe of how amazing our God;as only God can make so many different species and creatures.
Miss A's favorite part of the tour was our visit to the Gorilla Valley where she made a great friend; a Gorilla! This amazing Gorilla spotted Miss A sitting by a window and came right up to her and tried to talk and touch her; it was absolutely beautiful and amazing. Of course, I'm glad the glass separated them; but it was like they were meant to be friends. Miss A was smiling from ear to ear and so was her new friend.
Spending the night at the Zoo with the Girl Scouts and Mom Volunteers was great; getting to do this with my favorite youngest daughter was the best part.
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