Our African Adventure

We decided to take the kids to the zoo on Roland's Friday off this past week. The Dallas zoo just recently opened their new "Giants of the Savannah" exhibit so we decided to check it out. I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I was blown away. I thought it was great!

First on the stop were the gorillas. Roland and I were more excited about them than the kids were! I was blown away at how close they were. They were just chiilin' and chewing away at their grass. I felt like I could reach out and touch them! I was definitely in awe. As Roland and I stood spell bound we realized that the kids were moving on. Maybe next time we can watch them some more.


Weston and Natalie both had to take a turn riding the elephant statues. That was fun.


The lion was entertaining. He walked back and forth in front of the window as if scoping his prey (us) out. He even would jump up on the glass and claw at it occasionally. Weston was really excited to see the lion but not after he actually saw him. He was very hesitant and was content standing behind my leg to watch the rest of the time.

We passed the cheetahs but didn't get a great view as there were lots of people and they kept running past really fast. Maybe next time.


We looked out at the elephants, wart hogs, ostriches, and giraffes. I was so impressed at the overall habitat. It was incredible. The kids loved looking out at all of the animals. Natalie still doesn't quite appreciate the animals like Weston does, but she did manage to find a water puddle to splash in, so she was happy!







The kids hopped into the stroller for a quick snack and we headed out to the children's section of the zoo.

The kids got right to playing. Weston headed for the slide and Natalie went straight to the tunnel. So much to choose from!


The kids had an absolute blast playing in the stream. Natalie is a natural born climber. I should have known. She had some incredible positioning climbing up some of those stones. She had her hands and feet placed perfectly and had a meticulously set stance. Very impressive! She even made it up about a four foot rock wall by herself. What a little monkey! (unfortunately there are no pictures of this feat as I had to be responsible and make sure she didn't fall).



Weston loved jumping from stone to stone. He walked through that stream with such determination and speed. He also liked to lay flat and slurp in some water. Kind of gross, but he thought it was fun.




What an exciting place! Eventually they were tuckered out and it was time to go home. What a fun day!