Mommy signed Zoe up about a month ago to go to the Phoenix Zoo as part of a special event, “Breakfast the Tortoises”. When she told me, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. I have never eaten a tortoise before and wasn’t looking forward to eating one. After she explained it to me i felt much better. Apparently, you feed the tortoises, not eat them. Wheeew!

Anyway, I had been telling Zoe about it for the last week or so and she has been very excited to go. She woke up extra early today and exclaimed “I’m ready to go feed the turtles! I’m going to feed them carrots!” and she was right.

Momma, Zoe and I headed over to the zoo and Grandpa met us there. We had to wait for all the kids to show up and the instructors let us feed the turtles from the entrance bridge. We learned that lettuce and dog food is better for them than bread. I heard a large splash in the water and thought it was louder than the dog food we have been dropping in the water. I came to find out it was a woman’s cell phone. I felt bad for her unitl later, when Zoe was waiting patiently to feed the biggest tortoise and she and her daughter just cut right in front of her.

Anyway, Zoe had a great time throwing dog food and lettuce from the bridge. We saw a really big soft shelled turtle in the water. When the group filled, we rolled up to the breakfast and activity area. They told us it was parent led and they had some small activity stations set up. Zoe’s favorite was the inflatable turtle pool filled with sand and turtle eggs (ping pong balls).

We were in the second group to go in and, after some short ground rules, was handed her carrot in a set of salad tongs. She and Momma headed into the exhibit. They had to wait a bit but were eventually able to get over to a nice tortoise who chomped away at Zoe’s carrot while I snapped some photos from Grandpa’s camera. I forgot mine. Zoe said that she was going to take a bite of her carrot and we had to tell her “No!”

Afterward, we did the usual round at the zoo. We saw the wallabies, petted the goats and went into see the spider monkeys. Zoe then splashed in the splash pad and we topped it all off with a carousel ride.

At 11:30, Zoe went down for her nap and didn’t wake up until 4:00! One of the first things she told me was how much fun she had feeding the turtles and petting their shells.

Thanks Momma, we’ll definitely hafta do the next group activity.

P.S. On the way out, I saw a turtle on a cell phone. Hopefully he was calling international long distance…People can be so rude.

Categories: Rantings
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