Teddy goes to the Dallas Zoo

 We are avid zoo goers and spend at least 4-5 days a month at the zoo. So when we got Teddy Bear we knew we had to show him off to all the wonderful animals at the local zoo. I hear alot of hype about how the Dallas Zoo is not as wonderful as the Ft. Worth Zoo, but I really have to disagree with that one. Granted the Ft. Worth Zoo is in a better location, and has more shade to it, but it is over crowded, you can hardly move with a stroller or younger children in most areas and its designed to have you go one way only! I hate that. I love to have open space, the ability to choose which direction to go, and I love that I can let my kids push the stroller and not constantly be apologizing for bumping into someone! Plus, a little sunshine does a body good. The Dallas Zoo has made so many wonderful changes over the years, not only for the people who come and visit, but for the animals as well. They have expanded just about every area and gave the animals room to roam in habitats are like home! I would rather see less animals in more open areas, loving life and roaming around, than trapped behind glass with no where to go! That's just me though.

When you walk in the first hing you see is the water fall with the Dallas Zoo sign behind it and then you see all these beautiful parrots, just dying for your attention. As you can tell, Delaney was not all to happy that I made her stop looking and pestering the parrots to talk to her and take a photo! Pre-teens! That's really all I can say about that one. Drake was all too happy and proud to show off Teddy Bear to the Penguins, who were in the process of being fed. Do not get me wrong, I love the penguins, but boy they SMELL! Of course, the diet they eat does not help that out any either :)


When we arrived we were told that the baby giraffe was out and about FINALLY and roaming around. She is only 3 months old and already 5' tall! That is as tall as my 11 yr old daughter!It was too adorable to watch her trying to run around and eat though. She stumbled, she fell, but she kept getting back up with her daddy by her side the whole time. After snapping a few dozen shots and watching her for about 30 minutes, we heard the announcement that the cats were about to be fed! Now for anyone who knows me they know how much I LOVE the CATS!


 The Cheetahs are my daughter favorite. We literally have to pull her away. My youngest son is like that with the Elephants. We were lucky that one decided to lay down right in front of the glass and rolled around and toyed with us. I think he was very pleased with himself getting all these kids to run back and forth with him.

Once we dragged Delaney away from the cats, we walked right around the bend to the Elephants.  The cats, Elephants, Giraffes, Wart Hogs and that's it, are all housed together in one large area, separated by some glass. It is massive with so much room to roam around. I was really disappointed in the staff though. The kids went as a field trip as well to learn about the different fauna and flora that are part of each of the biomes that the zoo has to offer. As well as what hemisphere each animal lived in. The staff had no clue what fauna or flora was and my kids kept having to explain it and the staff was very uniformed sadly. It got to the point that they stopped asking all together, took photos and came home and google searched. I give credit to the lady running the Elephant Base Camp because although she had no clue, she immediately started pulling out books and helped my kids find the answers! She was awesome.

 I do not know why but I think I got a pic of every flat we have ever hosted being eaten by this crocodile. They get the biggest kick out of this and laugh and laugh and go on and on the whole time about it. Must be a kid thing. Either way rest assure that Teddy Bear did survive the vicious attack!