NW Trek

Well, unfortunately WSU lost to N Carolina. It was pretty awful. But UCLA is currently ahead so I'm about to make my 9pm nacho tray and crack open a Dew. I'm quite exhausted after today's adventures. While Jack spent the whole day at the Martins (Keri is my savior!) I took a personal day off work to take Monica on her class trip to Northwest Trek. Wow. What an incredible park! It's not only a zoo with all northwest animals, it's also a wildlife park with elk and moose coming right up to the tour bus you can ride around in. I'm a total fan. I loved that it's all northwest native species. I so prefer seeing black bears than African giraffes. I guess my interest in zoos is about as exotic as my travel interests.
The only problem with today was that the weather was FREEZING and I spent most of the trip feeling hypothermic, which was mostly my own fault for not dressing more appropriately. Monica didn't seem as cold. I think that running from here to there with her friends kept her toasty. I think it would be tons of fun to go back and visit again, maybe in the summer!

Monica, not so sure about this. It's pretty cold and Mom committed the cardinal sin of forgetting her mittens AND her animal book. Hey, I managed to remember the driving directions, the camera, and the mountain dew... what more could you ask for?

After waiting 30 minutes in the cold for the whole group to assemble, we finally started with the walking part of the zoo. Here is Monica (in pink) and Nadia looking at a wolverine. Go Michigan!

Teacher Shauna posing with her posse. Monica is 3rd from left, standing closest to her BFF Eva. Those two are getting so close these days that if they had cell phones they'd probably be texting each other nonstop.

This view is from the tram we rode. Roosevelt elk, I believe. I learned they lose and re-grow their antlers every year. Who knew!

Yes, Mr. Buffalo WAS actually this close to me.

After the tram ride we visited the children's activity center. Thank god it was heated! Here are Monica and her friends coloring fish pictures with googlie eyes.

Lunch! Notice I picked the table next to the fireplace. The cafe was quite cozy, the only problem being the chef and the cashier chick kept yelling at each other. Eva's mom suggested they have a "team meeting." I was just afraid one of them was going to walk out and quit before my chicken strips were cooked.

We walked through a few more exhibits before we left. Here are the grizzly bears who seemed just was curious about watching what we were doing as we were about them.

At last, back to the car. It's so great to see Monica interacting with her peers and making friends. And Teacher Shauna is a rock star. We can only hope that kindergarten goes this well.

When we finally got back home it was almost four o'clock and I was so exhausted I turned Elmo on for the kids and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Unfortunately Monica disturbed me every 5 minutes asking for popcorn.

Tomorrow... back to work, but then the weekend!