Pete & Sharmela Hafen: Dallas Zoo

We finally made it out to do a little more exploring of Dallas on Sunday. I had been checking the weather waiting for a less than hot and humid day to try out the zoo. And finally it was suppose to be overcast and only 93 degrees. Yes, only! We made plans to get there at 9am sharp when it opened but Harlow didn't even wake us up until 8:45am. Which never, ever, ever, EVER happens. She is usually up at about 7-7:15 every morning. Not that I'm complaining. We didn't arrive until about 10:30 and it was already getting warm. So we stuck to as much shaded areas as possible.

This zoo is by far one of my favorite I've been to. It just seemed very open and lush and spacious. And it was clean, modern and kid friendly. Now if only the whole thing was indoors, it would have been even better. Harlow has been watching The Lion King a lot lately as well as Madagascar so she was pretty excited to see the animals. She referred to many of the animals in the movie character names. As in, the zebra was Marty, the lion was Alex and Simba, and the giraffe was Melman. She has been talking about the zoo trip daily since we've gone. She likes to tell people she rode the horse (pony) and sat on a tiger (on the carousel) and got to high five the lion (through the glass). She also got to feed the giraffe.

We have been to the San Diego Zoo, the Seattle Zoo, the Denver Zoo and the Dallas Zoo but surprisingly we have yet to take her to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. But seeing how much she loved all the others, it will for sure be an activity once we get back to California.

We brought Harlow's stroller inside the zoo with us but she insisted on walking most of the way. She was having a blast feeling independent and doing her own exploring. She was having so much fun she was sweaty and red faced most of the trip and man was she tired once we got back to the car. But this hot and pregnant momma was probably more tired. When Harlow took a nap, so did I!