Dönüşte annem bize “Afiyet olsun” deyip sıcak çorba koydu; biz de gün boyu gördüğümüz hayvanları anlattık.

It means on the way back, upon returning, or when we got back.

It comes from:

• dönüş = return
• -te = the locative ending, meaning in / at / on

So Dönüşte literally means at the return, but in natural English it is usually on the way back or when we returned.

The -te form appears instead of -de because of consonant harmony: ş is voiceless, so the suffix becomes -te.

Because annem already means my mother.

Breakdown:

• anne = mother
• -m = my

So:

• annem = my mother

Turkish often leaves out the separate pronoun benim when the possessive suffix already makes the meaning clear.
So annem is completely natural and common.

Bize means to us.

Breakdown:

• biz = we / us
• -e = dative ending, often meaning to

So:

• bize = to us

It works well here because the mother is:

• saying Afiyet olsun to us
• serving soup to us

So bize is the indirect object.

It is a very common fixed expression said before or while serving food. It means something like:

• Enjoy your meal
• Bon appétit

Literally, it has the sense of may it be good for your health / well-being.

You do not usually translate it word-for-word. It is best learned as a set phrase.

Deyip means saying or having said, and in this sentence it links two actions:

• she said Afiyet olsun
• then she served hot soup

So deyip is roughly:

• saying ... and then ...
• after saying ...

It comes from demek = to say.

This -yip / -ip form is called a converb. It connects actions without making a whole new finite clause.

So:

• Afiyet olsun deyip sıcak çorba koydu
  = She said “enjoy your meal” and served hot soup

Yes — literally koymak often means to put or to place.
But with food, it can naturally mean to serve, to dish out, or to ladle out.

So:

• sıcak çorba koydu literally = put hot soup
• natural English = served hot soup

This is a good example of a verb whose everyday meaning changes a bit depending on context.

In biz de, de is a separate word meaning also / too.

So:

• biz de = we too / and we

This is different from the locative suffix -de/-da, which attaches directly to a word and means in / at / on.

Compare:

• biz de = we too
• evde = at home

Spacing matters:

• de as also/too is written separately
• -de/-da as a case ending is written attached

Gün boyu means all day long or throughout the day.

Breakdown:

• gün = day
• boyu = along the length of / throughout

Together, it functions like a time expression:

• gün boyu = throughout the day

Here it describes when they saw the animals.

This is one of the most important Turkish patterns: a relative-clause-like structure placed before the noun.

gördüğümüz hayvanlar means:

• the animals that we saw

Breakdown of gördüğümüz:

• gör- = see
• -dük / -dik / -duk / -dük type relative/nominal suffix
• -ümüz = our / we

So gördüğümüz literally comes from something like our having seen, but in natural English it becomes that we saw.

So:

• gördüğümüz hayvanlar = the animals that we saw

A useful comparison:

• gören hayvanlar = the animals that see / the animals that are seeing
• gördüğümüz hayvanlar = the animals that we saw

So this form shows that we are the ones who did the seeing.

Because it is the definite direct object of anlattık.

Breakdown:

• hayvanlar = animals
• hayvanları = the animals / the animals as a definite object

In this sentence, they are talking about specific animals — the ones they saw during the day — so the accusative ending is used.

So:

• gördüğümüz hayvanları anlattık = we told about the animals that we saw

Without the accusative, it would sound less definite and would not fit this sentence as well.

Yes. Anlattık comes from anlatmak, which means:

• to tell
• to explain
• to describe
• to recount

Here it means something like:

• we told about
• we talked about
• we described

So gördüğümüz hayvanları anlattık is very naturally:

• we told her/us about the animals we saw
• we talked about the animals we had seen

Turkish often leaves out an indirect object like to her if it is already clear from context.

Because Turkish is usually a verb-final language.

So the sentence is organized roughly like this:

• Dönüşte annem bize Afiyet olsun deyip sıcak çorba koydu
• biz de gün boyu gördüğümüz hayvanları anlattık

In both parts, the main verb comes at the end:

• koydu = served
• anlattık = told

This is very normal in Turkish.
Time expressions, objects, and descriptive phrases often come before the verb.