Volunteering on the farm at the Minnesota Zoo

I have missed my blog friends the past couple weeks. We have been extremely busy cleaning and dealing with some house issues. It is nice to be able to come and spend a few moments and reflect on more positive things in my life. I've missed you. :)



This is the third year my daughter has volunteered at the Minnesota zoo as a zoo teen. It is an incredible honor to be chosen. It is highly competitive--the year she applied I believe there were over a thousand applicants for the 50 or so spots. It has been a great experience. She used to work during the zoo camps, helping the instructors. She also helped in the kids den--a play and exploration area for visiting tots. This year, she is able to occasionally help on the farm.


It is a good experience for her. She has been able to incorporate her work on the farm and at the therapeutic riding place. She really loves working at the zoo and the animals. Sometimes its goats, pigs, calfs and little chicks!


We drive enough to get to the zoo, we really cannot just go back home. We are in the cities with her while she works. That can make for a long day for my boys, but they have chances to fun things too. We have really enjoyed the Russian bears and the giraffes in the African exhibit. It has been a great time. In this picture, they had just been able to feed them. Morning is definitely a better time to feed them crackers because otherwise they get full and less interested in the interaction. We can't wait for the new playground to be finished--it will be a great place to burn some energy while waiting.