Zoo variations

So we went to the zoo yesterday, but this time we went with a 14, 13, 11 and 9 year old (a friend came along).  Boy oh boy was it different from when we went with a 6, 4 and 2 year old.

1. Everyone liked to spend time actually looking at the animals.  The parakeet auklet was swimming under the water and splashing up a storm---great!  The polar bear was pacing around---we wondered what he had been doing.  They counted the number of bird species they saw in the aviary. They watched and observed and learned things.
2. Eleanor: "What would you call a bright orange flamingo?  A Fla-mango!"
3. The girls all loved the cats, especially the sand cat.  They made up stories about what the cat was thinking.  It certainly was a beauty.
4. They actually read the signs.  All by themselves.  I didn't have to read them out loud.  Fabulous!
5. No one complained about lunch. Or about not going to the extra cost high ropes course, carousel and 4D movie.  In fact, aside from the 9 year old there was practically no complaining, whining, asking, etc..
6. They wanted to climb up everything.  I know, that's not different from going with younger kids.  The difference was that they actually succeeded climbing up everything.  I had to tell them to get down so they wouldn't be a bad example to the younger kids trying to imitate them.
7. Sometimes the animals were boring.  But at least they tried to find the animals (they seemed to feel it was a challenge) and went to the exhibits.
8. They walked fast between exhibits.  Really fast! They ate quickly too. This meant we had more time for everything.
9. Together we made a plan for how to spend the time.  Then we followed the plan.  Everyone got to see the things they liked, everyone pretty much agreed on what they were doing next.  
10. When we had 1 hour left to spend, they chose to tram over to the Africa exhibits and see the elephants, who happened to be right near the viewing area, as was the giraffe and the zebra.  I would never have done that with little kids, but these guys had a goal and were rewarded.
11. When we got caught in traffic on the way home they just put another audio book in the CD player and listened.  No drama. It did help that I had crackers and grapes in the car, and they all kept track of their water bottles.
12. I knew what to carry and what to leave at home.  Moms can be trained too!

Now I'm trying to figure out when I can go back with these delightful children (I do suspect that they behaved better because Eleanor brought a friend).  Want to go on a trip?