By Delia Pruitte
 Click image to download the coloring page. |
Spring Break and sunny weather could mean only one thing for our Sunshine Band at HTC: field trip! HTC Sunshiners ages 0-12 enjoyed a day at the National Zoo in downtown Washington D.C. on Wednesday, April 20. We began by gathering at the church to pack lunches and backpacks for the outing, and then the Sunshine Band and youth workers piled onto the church van to hit the road. The first stop upon arriving at the zoo was…the restroom.
Then it was off to see the animals. The Sunshiners visited cheetahs, gazelles, elephants and more. The highlight of our trip however, was yet to come. After visiting a few more of the zoo residents, the HTC group happened upon an unusually long line. Moving forward, we realized that we were about to see the zoo’s most popular featured animal: the Chinese giant panda! Our youth got an up close and personal view of the zoo’s panda family, namely Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) and Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN). Noses pressed to the glass, HTC’s youth learned that giant pandas consume about 20-40 pounds of bamboo in one day. They also learned that giant pandas are an endangered species.
Too soon, it was time to head home. After a relaxing lunch, someone asked the Sunshine Band if the enjoyed their day at the zoo. The answer was a resounding, “YES!”