Starting at the beginning of the year…no, wait. I think I should go back a bit further. Layna’s program at school it focused on helping special needs highschool students get ready for life post graduation. Part of the program is collecting volunteer hours or internship hours. I reached out to the Broadway Zoological Park up the street that Naomi volunteers at during the summer and we set up a weekly volunteer time for our sweet Layna Dawn. It’s pretty great living 2 minutes away from a really great zoo. So every Wednesday she and I go after school to help out around the zoo.
We’ve washed viewing windows, raked leaves (a lot!), and swept the kid barn. I thought I took more pictures but we’ve loved being at the zoo with no crowds (the Zoo is closed during the week during the winter) and the animals are super eager to come say hi. Some emus tried to peck our hands as we washed the windows on their yard. The parrots talk to us when we sweep the barn and the goats are always convinced we are bringing them treats. One week it was raining hard so we made enrichment activities that she got to put all over the budgie house. Anyways it’s been amazing.

Layna gets tired easily and after about an hour she starts to lose steam with whatever we are working on. But she looks forward to working at the Zoo just like her big sister. I’m not sure what life will look like for her after this school year when our volunteer stint is over, let alone after high school. But I can say with confidence that we will be life-long patrons of the Broadway Zoological Park.