The Dallas Zoo

Last night we were invited and attended a dinner at the Dallas Zoo. CK was invited by a bank that he works with to attend a family-friendly private dinner and pet experience. Of course, we were stuck in terrible traffic and made it late to the Dallas Zoo, but got there for the girls to see several animals unclose and personal. They were able to pet and be with a flamingo and also a snake. They both loved it! The Zoo was lit up for Zoo Nights, so it was also fun to walk through the zoo and see all the lights. After the animal encounter and dinner, we were able to walk all over the zoo! It was such a great and unique experience. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go to the Savannah area of the zoo to see the giraffes and elephants, which is all Olivia really wanted to do. She was heartbroken and proceeded to cry her eyes out for our entire walk back to our car. It was likely an aspect of being overly tired too, but I somehow promised to bring the girls back the next day. The girls rode the carousel before we headed home, which stopped the tears.

The next morning we headed to the Dallas Zoo and had a great time, and excellent weather for early December. The zoo was fairly empty, so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Plus, the girls had their piano recital that afternoon, so we actually arrived just as the zoo opened. After taking a few photos of the girls in front of the zoo sign and seeing the lemurs, penguins and baboons, we headed straight for the giraffes. Of course, on the way there the girls had to climb the elephant statues. Of course the girls had a hard time actually getting on top of the large elephant statue and I had to help them both up, but they finally made it.

We headed to the giraffes and we were the only ones there! We bought extra lettuce and the girls fed the giraffes. Olivia loved it and Sofia liked feeding them and trying to pet them. They had a great time and really enjoyed having the giraffes all to themselves without anyone else there. We spent a long time with the giraffes which was fun and interesting and I'm glad we made our way back to the zoo. We continued on our way and listened to the talk about the cheetah, took photos of the lion, and then walked around and found our way to the girls' favorite place to visit: the reptile house. They have always loved seeing the snakes and lizards. We really had covered a lot of ground, but it was time to get back home so we could get to the girls' piano recital. We rode the carousel just before we headed out. What a fantastic day at the zoo!

The zoo! We made it!

The lemurs just hanging out.

Penguins!

Penguins. They were very interested in watching us.

The girls are face to face with the baboon.

Baboon drinking water.

Olivia on the elephant.

The girls on their elephant.

Such sweet sisters.

Wart hogs. Love them so much!

Feeding giraffes. The highlight of Olivia's day!

A giraffe close-up.

Even closer up of a Giraffe.

The cheetah just hanging out.

And the cheetah up-close.

A very tired lion.

Snakes! The girls favorites.

Sofia on the carousel before we head home.

A few photo ops. The girls love climbing these statues.

A little ice cream in December. Only in Texas.

The porcupine. So cute and strange looking at the same time.

Touching the snake. The girls loved it.

What a FUN day at the zoo!

From last night:

The cool giraffe in lights!

The girls in front of the giraffe.

Riding the carousel before heading home!

Sweet Sofia on the cool okapi.

Olivia and me. Smiles now, thankfully.