WooHoo, the ZOO!!

A mere two weeks after our bundle-up-super-chilly field trip, we decided to end our school year with a trip to the Abilene Zoo. Temp high for that day? 100 degrees. Yep, that's Texas for you!

Everyone got a chance to feed the giraffes. 

The kids were so excited to feed the fish. There are tons of them! Plus, we saw water snakes and turtles hanging out with them, too.

We waited and watched our peacock friend for a long time, hoping to get a glimpse of his feathers spread out wide, but no such luck. 

Afterwards, we stopped at Abilene's splash park. It was the perfect way to cool off with those rising temps. 

And a perfect way to end our school year!

Field Trip to State Park

It was cold. 40 degrees and windy, but the kids never complained! We began our field trip with Ranger Bryce and he led us down the trail to the Bird Blind.  

On our way he talked about geocaching and he let the kids discover one of the geocaches hidden on the trail.    

Konner's eyes lit up when he discovered the geocache!

We arrived to the bird blind and saw many species of birds.  The Thrashers, Black Cow Birds, Red Winged Black birds,  Robins, House Wrenchs,  and Doves all put on a show at the feeders.  

 Ranger Bryce told us many interesting things about birds and answered the kids questions.  He said that birds can not sense spiciness and can eat the seeds of a jalapeno.  If they get stickers in their feet they can pull them out with their beaks.  He also said that the Black Cow bird laid its egg in other birds nest and was considered a pest.  Each bird had a different shaped beak and could be seen eating seed in a different way. As we were watching for birds, several bunnies made themselves known hopping close to the Bird Blind.

On the way back down the trail Ranger Bryce cut open a cactus to show how much moisture was stored there.  Despite the weather, the field trip was an excellent field study for our little bird enthusiasts.