Visiting Riverbanks Zoo

Thursday was a half-day for students due to the end of the semester. Since it was a half-day, I asked Dr. Martin if it would be possible for us to leave early to go to Riverbanks Zoo. It was the warmest day that we have had since Lydia has been here.

We left school and headed to MVista, an Asian restaurant in the Vista. Lydia had never eaten Asian food before, so we felt the need for her to try several different dishes. For appetizers, we ordered lettuce wraps, sushi tuna, and edamame (it was more than just the two of us eating). For her main dish, she had the fried rice with chicken and shrimp. We got her a pair of beginner chopsticks, and she did a really great job with them. She did not like the sushi tuna very much or the lettuce wraps, but she really liked the edamame. We ate a lot of food for lunch that day.

After lunch, we headed to the zoo. It was the perfect day to go as the weather was warmer and yet most students were still in school. It felt like we had the park to ourselves. She really enjoyed seeing the elephants and the penguins. She had taken her son to the zoo in Uganda before, but from the way she made it sound, it wasn’t that great. She loved the open space of the zoo and the foliage. She loved that there was so much information about the animals to help educated those who visit.

After the zoo, the original plan was to go to the Oyster Bar. However we were still too full from lunch to think about dinner. Ellen made the executive decision for us to go to Nonnah’s and have dessert for dinner. There were five of us at this point; we decided that each of us would order something different and then share. Five desserts arrived, and we each took one. The plan was that we would each take two bites and then pass our plate to the person on the right. This was a genius plan!! The desserts were delicious. However Lydia had never done this before. I think it took her a minute to get used to us sharing. She just kept laughing at us. Once we were done, we headed home. As we were driving home, she said, “Sharing plates. Do you do this often?” I replied that I did as it was an opportunity to try different foods without ordering or eating too much. I think she has gotten used to it as she and Brooke shared food the next night.