Penguins...and Yogurt

Years ago, our first South African au pair arrived and the first night at dinner, we were talking in broad strokes about what we knew about South Africa and asking lots of questions. At some point, Ed piped in about a penguin that lived in South Africa, which he had read about in the newspaper.

Having just helped Connor with a report on King Penguins, I wasn't so sure Ed knew what he was talking about. More to the point, our South African au pair had no idea what Ed was talking about, so it wasn't long before we decided Ed had just misplaced the penguin from whatever story he had read. But Ed would not be deterred, and occasionally he would tell me that he knew there were penguins in South Africa.

And not that surprisingly, he was right. Today, I would bet a lot of money that the article he read made the point these animals are in trouble. In the last 100 years, the number of African penguin breeding pairs has dropped by 97 percent. Today, scientists estimate there are roughly 25,000 breeding pairs left. The reasons are many and are not surprising - oil spills, loss of nest burrow sites, and a reduction in prey caused by commercial fishing.

I learned this, because tomorrow (April 25th) is World Penguin Day - and as part of that day, Stonyfield yogurt is kicking off their support of the AZA SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) program. They're supporting the program in several ways - but big ones are making a substantial donation and also doing their part to keep toxic pesticides out of the environment. The penguin is one of ten endangered species the program aims to help.

As a big kick-off event, Stonyfield and AZA are hosting a Facebook Live for kids and their parents to get a firsthand look at these awesome animals, and learn about the conservation work being conducted. The broadcast will be direct from  Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT at noon (EST). It will broadcast from the Stonyfield Facebook page  You can also check this out for a little AZA-Stonyfield humor.

Further, Now through the end of September families who buy two specially-marked YoKids yogurt multipacks will receive a FREE kid’s admission to their local AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium when they also buy an adult ticket.

For my crew's part - we headed up to Baltimore on the Monday after Easter to visit the Maryland Zoo. I'm not sure I've ever been there - we tend to head over to National Zoo (which is not nearly as big, but is very close). And guess what the Maryland Zoo has?

Even though our visit was cold, drizzly rain, we had a fantastic time visiting the zoo. Connor was a great sport. For some reason, I decided it was going to warm up, so I convinced him a jacket and shorts would be fine. I was wrong. We were both freezing.

We brought a snack (there's even a pavilion for picnickers) and also had some pizza from the zoo snack bar. We needed warmth!

And I think Helen and Connor stayed in here just so they could be warm for a few moments.

Elaine

I was gifted tickets to the Maryland Zoo - which was a real treat, and inspired our trip when I realized the kids didn't have school last Monday (surprise!). Opinions are my own.