Overnight at the Zoo with Girl Scouts

Rosemary’s Girl Scout troop sold a lot of cookies this year so they were able to go on a pretty amazing end of the year trip. Her leader organized an overnight trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. All but one of the girls was able to make it. I chaperoned along with four other moms.

It was pouring rain for most of the drive and for most of the night, but the zoo staff did an excellent job keep the girls interested.

When we arrived, we had a quick pizza dinner then Sammy brought out a screech owl for the girls to see.

Then we all got our ponchos on for our nighttime behind-the-scenes zoo tour.

We all wore glow necklaces (so helpful in the rain and dark) and walked in straight lines as we made our way through the park.

They tried to get us inside when they could and showed the girls lots of animals up close. Here they are checking out a bearded dragon.

Next, they brought out a python for the girls to hold.

Yes, that’s right. A PYTHON!!! My heart started racing as soon as it came out of that room. (Even looking at these pictures I can feel my pulse quickening).

Such brave girls.

Then they let the moms hold the snake.

I have a huge fear of snakes. Little ones terrify me, but by God’s grace I managed to do this. I guess you just sometimes have to face your fears. I think you can tell from my expression just how terrified I am.

Not a small snake by any means. I was certain it would haunt my dreams that night. In reality, there was no concern for that since I don’t know that I slept at all, but I have had a dream about this snake slithering around in our backyard in the weeks since. No lie.

After that, we headed outside and saw the goats.

From there we spent a good chunk of time navigating muddy puddles and walking around the perimeter of the zoo, sometimes along the train track. We caught a glimpse of a black panther, a cheetah, and a giraffe. Then they took us to the African snake house (can anyone who has read Harry Potter go into a snake house and not think of what happens in book 1?) and told us (among other interesting facts) a story about how the green mamba had gotten out of its terrarium once. Very comforting.

We got back to where we were staying a little after 10pm, well past these girls’ bedtime. They changed into their pajamas, got their beds ready and watched some of the Jungle Book. Rosemary had a hard time sleeping too, but I knew it was only one night so we could survive that.

The next morning, Sammy got everyone up at 6:30 to get ready for the day.

The girls saw a chinchilla.

Then we headed over to feed the stingrays. A couple of the round ones were really aggressive, but the more square shaped ones were okay to feed. It felt really weird to feed a stingray! Rosemary tried but as they came near she would pull her hand out. I can’t blame her. Seeing how the rounded ones acted, it was a bit intimidating.

That wrapped up our tour, so from their we went back to the cars…

…and got a few quick photos before loading up to head back to Gainesville.

This is just such a great group of little girls.

Fisheries Field Trip

Our April field trip with our co-op was to the UF Fisheries.

Janice and Richard came to town to watch Charlotte for me so just the two older ones got to go. They first worked with a partner to catch fish in the smaller ponds using nets.

Rosemary worked with Noah and I helped Ben.

Rosemary and Noah caught a lot of animals…and a lot of mud.

Next, the kids then learned a bit about different native and invasive fish. Algae eaters are not native and are taking over some lakes. They are huge in the wild!

Finally, the kids got to actually go fishing. We’ve been out to the fisheries on Family Fun Days and never caught fish, but this time was different! We used hot dogs as bait, baited our hooks and were ready to go.

This proud little 4 year old caught his very first fish! A cute little blue gill.

Rosemary caught her first fish too! Another blue gill.

And guess what?? I caught my very first fish as well!! Thirty-three years old and this was the first! (I’m pretty sure I squealed with joy…thank you, Ashley, for getting a picture for me). I had to get Jennifer to help me unhook and throw the first one back, but after that, I managed to unhook and throw any others that we caught back into the pond.

It was such a fun, memorable morning. From there, we loaded up in the van and headed back to the house to get Charlotte. Then we all drove down for lunch with Jonathan before Janice and Richard headed home.

Welcome Home

When we pulled up to the house after our trip, we found this beautiful banner welcoming us.

San Francisco-Day 4

On our last full day in San Francisco, we met up again with Jonathan’s co-workers to go to brunch at Mama’s. Mama’s was near North Beach, in Little Italy, which was a bit of a hike from the hotel so we caught a bus.

We were dropped off at Washington Square near Saints Peter and Paul Church.

We crossed the street and got in line. It’s a small place and the line stretched past the restaurant when we arrived.

Waiting…

We’re next!

It was somewhat deceiving, when we got inside we still had to wait in line to order. But while we waited, we got to check out all of the amazing dishes that the cooks were preparing. Everything looked so good.

An old menu

I opted for the Corned Beef Benedict. Oh my. It was so good.

Jonathan went with the French Toast covered with fresh fruit.

The OUR AACRAO gang

Jonathan had some extra time before he needed to head back to the conference, so we decided to head up Telegraph Hill and see Coit Tower.

On our way up. It was pretty steep…the cars weren’t even parallel parked here. I think that orange building up on the corner was an elementary school.

I feel like that road doesn’t look nearly as steep as it felt while walking up it.

The view was great. We didn’t go up to the top of the tower, but even from the base, the views were beautiful.

Bay Bridge

From there, Jonathan walked back to the conference and I made my way to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. On my way there, my mom called and I got to talk to Rosemary a bit. I was on the phone with Rosemary when I got to Pier 39 so I took a picture with the seals. They’re hard to see. They’re behind my head.

The famous Pier 39 seals

From the end of the Pier, there was a great view of Alcatraz.

The Pier was pretty touristy. It reminded me of Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk. Lots of families and souvenirs shops were there.

From Pier 39, I walked over the Ghirardelli building and stopped in for a sundae.

As I ate my sundae, I planned out where to go next. I wanted to ride the streetcar back, but I also wanted to see Lombard Street. So I decided to walk up to Lombard, walk down the stairs on Lombard, then walk back to Embarcadero.

At the top of Lombard Street looking towards Telegraph HIll

It took me awhile (because I stopped what seemed like every 20 feet to muster enough strength to keep climbing the hill) but I made it.

I walked down then headed back to Embarcadero. As I walked to the stop, there was an F Streetcar waiting and I rode it back to the hotel. My legs were so shaky by the time I got there and I was thankful that there was an empty seat. Between the bike ride and all the hill walking, my muscles were pretty tired.

Jonathan got back to the hotel after sessions and we decided to head out for some Italian food.

We enjoyed the Margherita Pizza at Pachino. It was close to the hotel, too.

We ate every last bite.

After dinner, we walked up to the Ferry Building to see the Bay Bridge lights.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped and picked up some souvenirs and gifts.

The next morning we were up early to pack and catch a taxi to the airport. The taxi ride was insane. I’m pretty sure we were traveling at close to 90 mph.

In the course of those few days we traveled in so many different types of transportation:

• Car
• Airplane
• Taxi
• Subway
• Bus
• Ferry boat
• Bicycle
• Cable car
• Streetcar

Things went smoothly at the airport and our flights back were easy. We arrived in Orlando before 10pm then drove back to Gainesville. We were exhausted, but we had such a wonderful time away once again.