The Starkes Go To The Zoo!

Since the weather crapped out on us last weekend - and James got sick - we decided to have a Family Fun Day this weekend. We originally thought about heading to the Arboretum since that was our original plan for Good Friday but instead thought the girls would enjoy seeing some animals more than looking at some dumb old flowers. Boy did we have a great time. It was a beautiful day and we kept it relatively melt-down free too!! I would have liked to stay longer but once we got back to the car, after 5 hours there, I was ready to sit. We took lots of pics and, since Grandma is out town I've shared a bunch of them here. Unfortunately I forgot Blogger likes to upload them backwards so they're in reverse order from our day. I'm sure you'll enjoy them anyway.

Emmy's first ever carousel ride!! She wasn't so sure when we first started moving but by the end she was happy. I think it was good that we found her an animal that didn't go up and down while we went round and round. See, we're smart sometimes.

Megan and James rode right next to us. Megan's tiger did go up and down. The girl LOVES carousels. Honestly, they make me a little dizzy but I'll continue to ride them as long as my girls want me to.

Watching the carousel while we were in line.

Emmy and me on the monorail through the Wilds of Africa exhibit.

All she wanted to do was listen to me read her a book.

And she didn't want to sit still.

James and Megan on the monorail.

Megan sat still until we went under a waterfall and she got a little wet.

Then she started to cry!

I'm pretty sure this is Jenny the elephant that caused such a ruckus around here a while back. We bonded over having the same name. :) You can see why the elephants and giraffes are having a new home built for them. They're finally adding these two species to the Wilds of Africa exhibit, where they belong. It will be a while before it will be done but the 2 elephants and 3 giraffes will no longer live it in what looks like a run down truck garage and they'll have lots of new friends too. I can't wait to see it!

A 3-Headed Giraffe?

The Dallas Zoo wasn't so bad. We went to the FW Zoo last year and really liked it so we were apprehensive about wasting our time. It wasn't a waste but it has definitely not been upgraded to the level that the FW Zoo has. The 'exhibits' still look like cages, for the most part. The animals in FW seemed to have more space to roam (and less noise from I-35) so it just seemed less cruel somehow. Don't get me wrong ... I'm not going all PETA on you ... but zoos just seem a little sad when you think about these poor animals living in these small, caged-in areas. FW just does a better job looking less cagey ... OK - back to the fun.

Enjoying the tortoises.

The Children's Zoo area has a great little playground with a little stream running around it. It was all over once Megan found her way to the water. It was still a little cool and the plan was to go back over there in the afternoon but we never made it back. She was NOT happy when we left there.

Feeding the birds!

Poor Megan. She was OK with feeding the birds until one landed on her head. I'm not sure if it pecked her or just scared her (or if she was upset because I was laughing at her). Needless to say, she wasn't so much a fan of the bird place after that. When you buy seed-sticks they also give you a little cup of worms. Gross! I didn't want any worms! We gave ours to a little boy that was having blast trying to feed them to the birds. He was picking the worms up with his fingers. ewwwww! We thought he would enjoy that much more than any of us!!

Looking at the duckies!

Emmy LOVED the ducks!

Emmy's "pony ride".

Megan's pony ride!