Zoo Memories

    The first time I can recall going to the zoo was when I was in 2nd grade. The field trip for that year was to the Philadelphia Zoo. I remember being very excited to go. That day that we went I remember my mom packed lunch for me in a brown paper bag, it was a sandwich, a bag ofchips, a juice box, and a pack of fruit snacks. (My mom always packed my lunches in a brown paper bag during field trips so I'd be able to throw everything away in the trash can and not have to carry around an empty lunch box.) When I went to the zoo, they had giant animal lego displays at the main different animal exhibits and each display had it's own little info card. These cards looked like Pokemon cards with a picture of the lego display and then facts of the certain animal below that. 

    When my class first entered the park they gave every kid a little sleeve to hold these lego info cards and sunglasses. (I did wear these that day.) What made it even more interesting was they had a made of the park with little markers for where each trading card was located. As a little kid I had one goal in mind, Gotta collect them all. (This was around the time I started watching Pokemon and collecting the cards so I was very excited that I could be a "Lego Pokemon Trainer".) I spent the day following my classmates around and collecting every card I could see. By the end of the trip I collected only around half of the cards and with a slightly disappointed feeling I decided to compare my cards with my classmates. This instantly made me feel better as  several of my classmates had only collected one or two cards.

    It's kinda weird  the only reason I remember this instance so well is because I still have though lego trading cards and those sunglass, which are now slightly small but I still wear time to time for the nostalgia. I would have to say the Philadelphia Zoo is my favorite. 

    In reality, that was not the first time I have been to a zoo. My parents took me to the Cape May zoo one rainy days when we couldn't go to the beach. I do not remember the specific first trip as all of those trips blended together, so I only remember certain things like the smell and the humidity. I also remember they were selling these animal shaped cups, which I very much wanted as a child. Needless to say I never got one of those cups. :( 
    

    When it comes to my favorite zoo animal was a cheetah. My reasoning was simply because they were very fast runners, and I also considered myself a fast runner at the time.

    Do you have any strong memories of going to the zoo? Was there ever something that you wanted that your parents wouldn't buy for you at the zoo?