Sunday, February 12, 2012

Trip to Denver...No wait...Dallas

We spent last weekend in Dallas with D'Arcy, Riley and Andrew!  WooHoo! Only we were supposed to meet in Denver (half way between us) when Denver got a MASSIVE snow storm.  So, with a few quick re-routes via Orbitz, multiple delays, 3 planes, and 6 car seats, we ended up in Dallas.  And after this trip we learned that you can have a great time anywhere for 2 days, because, let's be honest who goes to Dallas willingly?!  Believe it or not, Dallas has quite a few great family destinations - which are very affordable.  We went to the Butterfly House -

From Dallas

From Dallas
And the Children's Aquarium, which was great for toddlers because everything was at their height and had a ton of touching tanks.  Riley really loved petting the sting rays and Zailey really loved watching the sharks.

From Dallas


From Dallas


From Dallas


But the absolute highlight of our trip was the Dallas Zoo.  Partly because it was in the 50's while were there  - which for Texas is unbearably cold - so we were practically the only ones there! 
The zoo had great enclosures and fun stuff to play on for the kids (like this safari truck at the lion area),

From Dallas

We got to feed giraffes
From Dallas
And Zailey had a lion try to eat her - twice! - by wearing this cute little dinosaur jacket near the lion's window.
From Dallas
I have to admit this encounter with the lion made me incredibly grateful for safety glass.  A female lion was sitting very peacefully about a foot away from the glass when Zailey walked up.  All of the sudden, the lion was on her hind legs pawing frantically at the glass.  A few people screamed, Gryffin went running and before Zailey could turn to me and say "up mommy up," I had whisked her away.  Thinking this was just a fluke, a little while later, we tried to get a photo with the lion in the background while the lion was 15 ft away.  Boy, lions move fast when they see prey - that little jacket with its little spikes and big eyes must have looked absolutely delectable.  Again, mommy nearly had a heart attack and whisked Zailey away - sans picture!
The kids really had a great time together, they played a "busy bee" game in a honeycomb storage area.
From Dallas
We all played ring around the rosie multiple times over the weekend
From Dallas
Note - I have no idea why Andrew is in the tree.  What a monkey!
But of course posing for pictures together was way too much for me to ask - this is the best we got.
From Dallas
All in all we had a great time in Dallas.  Who would've thunk it!
From Dallas



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