To the Zoo

Yesterday we made our way to the Dallas Zoo. Our original intent was to ride the DART rail from our house to the zoo. The DART rail drops off right at the entrance of the zoo, and you don't have to pay for parking (or deal with Dallas traffic). However, we only made it as far as Cityplace before we decided that maybe KP just wasn't ready to ride the rail just yet. He kept wanting to run around while it was moving which would have been a very bad thing. So, we went one station back, and I left KP and Dylan at Mockingbird Station to play outside while I went back to get the van and pick them up.

KP was so happy to be back in the car, and not on the train.

Once we finally made it to the Zoo, we went straight to the Children's Zoo. I haven't been to the zoo since I was in high school, so a LOT has changed since then. Also, I sure wasn't interested in the children's part of the zoo then, so it was worth checking out now.

They have a great little stream that kids can play in. There were a bunch of kids running around in swimsuits just getting soaked and having a blast even in the less than stellar weather that we had yesterday.

We checked out the Discovery House where KP found a tree that he liked to hide in, and went to The Farm where there were horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, and actual pigs. KP found the sink and repeatedly washed his hands...ocd at its best. :)

Outside of The Farm, there was a little lamb statue the KP decided was just his size, and perfect for riding.

We tried putting him in a saddle earlier, and he was very uninterested, so it was nice to see that he found something "his size". :)

Then it was off to the Underzone. KP and Dylan went crawling around discovering underground habitats...and who knows what else they picked up from inside that tunnel. Dylan came out begging for hand sanitizer. :)

KP also had fun discovering the Koi pond. We didn't let him play with them at the Japanese Gardens, so we thought he would have fun with them at the Zoo...that kept him entertained for about 30 seconds.

After the Children's Zoo, we did a quick tour of Zoo North. As always, we were running behind yesterday, and the DART detour didn't help any, so we decided to only hit half of the zoo, and chose Zoo North because it was right by the Children's Zoo.

We visited the monkeys first, and wouldn't you know, the very first monkey had a unique greeting for us.

We made it through the monkeys, and then went on to visit some of the larger animals - tigers, giraffes, and elephants.

We also got to see where the butterflies will be starting next weekend. It looks like it will be a nice little place. KP loves butterflies, so we are looking forward to bringing him back there.

We went to see the reptiles, because of course, every little boy should be fascinated by reptiles. He wasn't. But maybe he'll grow into it. :) Mommy and Daddy were sure interested, though.

As always, we had a fun filled day. On our way out, we bought a membership that gives us free admission and parking for a year. I definitely think we will be coming back over the summer so that KP can burn off some of his pent up energy in the stream. :)

After we left the zoo, we stopped by Grandad Lynn and Grandma Sheri's to say hi and burn off some extra KP energy. He got to run around in the backyard and play with shovels and rocks. :) He even gave the tractor a hug.

Fun times. Next Sunday we're thinking of checking out the Cottonwood Arts Festival. The park is fairly small, and on a typical good-weather weekend day it is packed, so I'm not quite sure how successful this will be, but I figure it is worth a shot...unless anyone has any better ideas. Maybe we'll go back to the zoo again for the opening weekend of the butterflies.

xoxo

Margot