dallas zoo

The Dallas Zoo was one of the things we had on our list but didn't get to do when we were here two years ago.  Since we are here long-term now, I figured we get to it eventually, but when I saw they were doing $1 day this morning I dropped my entire to do list and off we went!

I wanted to be there when they opened but since I didn't decide until 8:30 we were going, we didn't get there until 10.  Much to my pleasure, it didn't feel packed at all.  We had to park in overflow parking but the amount of people inside didn't feel like a crowd at all.  It's cold but not frigid here in Texas so we bundled up but still had a nice time being outside!

Since it was new, we just went at a leisurely pace.  The kids were happy to see lots of favorites - flamingos, elephants, and giraffes. 

 They had a great little "family zoo" that had animals you could pet and feed, a playground, and hands-on exhibits for the kiddos.   The kids loved the koi,

 My favorite thing was the reptile house.  We happened to be there at feeding time so all the snakes and lizards were super active and easy for my little guys to see.

 Eli's favorite was definitely the giraffes.  They had giraffe feedings and tons of people were paying for food so there were lots of giraffes around.  We didn't buy food but Eli ran from one giraffe head to the other bouncing up and down and squealing!  For his birthday this summer we will come back and ride the train and feed giraffes because both those things made him so excited!

^ His closed eyes just crack me up!  They were smiling so good but I never seem to get those on my photo reel.  Sad.

 Half way through my camera would not focus so I took a bunch of pictures in selfie mode.  The results are gems like that ^^ where the kids look great and my ear is awkwardly photobombing.

 We grabbed hot dogs for lunch (my kids faaaavorite) and sat down to watch the crowds.  This was around 12:30 and the amount of people in the zoo seemed to suddenly go from regular traffic to crazy crowd status in just a few minutes!  We sat and watched people while we ate. 

 After eating we ran to the bird show.  We had missed the 11:00 show and TJ had his heart set on going!  We made it just in time to watch the short demo.  It was definitely TJ's favorite part.  At the end, they encouraged everyone to make donations to wildlife conservation by having a bird that would take your bills and put them in a box. 

I'm too cheap to pay for a train ride, feeding the giraffes, or riding the zoo monorail but they totally got me with the bird.  TJ was so excited AND it's his birthday tomorrow so I gave each kid $1 and they got to walk over to the raven to have the raven take it out of their hands and put it in the donation box.  They both loved it and it was the highlight of the visit for TJ.  There were a few kids afraid of getting nipped and I thought Eli might get scared but they were both excited and and thought it was hilarious.

It was a great day trip and honestly, a great way to get out of our awful house.  We still have so many boxes to unpack!  We're getting there.  Anyway, I'm super glad we got to go today!