The Dallas Zoo - Part 2

We took Troy back to the Dallas Zoo today, and as a last-minute treat, Misha was able to join us too. Since he’d already been there before, Troy took a much more targeted approach to the animals. He didn’t care to see everything. He had a specific list that he wanted to go straight to, and he wanted to see them in a particular order. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), so did Misha. So, I spent the morning trying to meld their two agendas together and chasing them from exhibit to exhibit, while my wife, mother-in-law, and Misha’s mom followed slowly behind.

Troy’s number one priority was feeding the giraffes. Thankfully, Misha was cool with that too. I managed to get them to stop at a few exhibits along the way, like the elephants and lions, but it was more like a drive-by, not even long enough for a photo op. The drizzling rain might have also influenced that. We eventually made it to the giraffes, and luckily there were two hungry and waiting mouths ready to take our lettuce and carrots.

Misha was dead set on seeing the hippos, which seems to about the only thing she ever cares to see. So, we headed that direction, making brief stops at the elephant statues and gorillas along the way. When we got there, the mama hippo was sleeping under the water. You could see her occasionally raise her head and take a breath before submerging again. While we waited for some more activity, the kids took the opportunity to play on the hippo statues. Finally, both the mama and her baby took a few passes by the glass to the enormous delight of all of the kids.

From there, we circled back around to see the crocodiles before deciding to head home. Of course, we had to stop and take a few rides on the carousel first, which is a must before exiting the zoo. And we finished off the afternoon with a late lunch at Ziguan Cafe and Bakery, so we could enjoy good food while the kids played and hung out for a little while longer. Since we ultimately missed nap time, Troy and my mother-in-law took the opportunity to grab a few Z’s in the car on the way home.