Safari on Vacation

We took the "safari" to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area the last two days. I had been planning this vacation for the last two months and I decided that we would go to the Ft. Worth Zoo one day and the Dallas Aquarium the next. So I called my parents and recruited them to go and help with the "safari" and to bring the "safari's" cousin, Aiden, along as well. We also invited Noel's dad, Michael, to join the fun. We decided to go at the end of May and in the middle of the week, Wednesdays, when the zoo is half price and so that was a no brainer.

Noel and I got the "safari" up at 6am on Wednesday. We met my parent's at the McDonald's right outside of Temple, so that we could carpool. As we were leaving the McDonald's there was a storm system moving through the area and I got this photo through the window in the van.



We were glad that the storm was not traveling in the same direction that we were. We arrived in Ft. Worth around 10:15 am. The "safari" was excited and so were we. Michael met us at the zoo. We did not figure that everyone was going to be there, but there were quite a few people and groups there, but we were glad that they thinned out after lunch time. Another good thing about a lot of groups being at the zoo was that we did not have a lot of people stare at the "safari" and ask questions. The "safari" had a wonderful time seeing all the animals because we had been watching the Discover channel in preparation for this trip.



























Hannah did fantastic as well. She looked at the animals, wanted to eat all the animal cookies (and no animals do not like to eat animal cookies). She got cranky right after lunch because she is normally at nap time and so Nana held her and got her to go to sleep.

We were at the zoo from 10am until around 3pm. Now the "safari" had not had a nap and so this is what we got when we go in the van and before we were out of the zoo parking lot.





















































Then we went to the hotel where the "safari" and everyone decided that we were going swimming. The "safari" had not been in a swimming pool before and they were a little skeptical at first, but by the end of the time they were jumping off the side of the pool. Now Hannah loves water and wanted me to let go of her (too bad there's not a picture). She is such a water bug.

Another first for the "safari" was that we went out to dinner. Noel and I have never taken the "safari" out to dinner because we are totally outnumbered and so we did on this trip since the ratio was 6 children and 5 adults. We went to Golden Corral because the food was ready and the "safari" was hungry. When we were done we went back to the hotel and got baths and watched some television before bed.



Now for the sleeping arrangements. We had three rooms. Micheal slept in one room, Noel, Papa and Hannah slept in another and then Nana, myself, Elijah, Joshua, Jacob, Esther and Aiden were in the other room. Everyone did really well. We took the mattress off the bed and laid it on the floor and the triplets and I slept there. Then Elijah wanted to sleep with Aiden and Nana. As soon as we turned the lights off everyone went to sleep and slept until 6:30am. We got dressed and ate breakfast downstairs. Noel and I are use to everyone staring and talking when we walk in a room or any public place with our "safari", but with our parents it is still a novelty.

So we got in the vehicles and went to the aquarium. When we got there this is what we saw.



























I was a little upset because I had called and talked to someone that worked at the aquarium and they had stated that they were open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. You see the "safari" and I had been watching shows on the Discover channel about the ocean and all the creatures that live there. The good thing is that they were still too young for it to be a disappointment. Micheal had remembered there was a Children's Museum in the same area from when Noel was a child. So we go on our phones and tried to find the museum online. No one seemed to know where it was, so we went to a butterfly place and it was not really for the kids. So after that we decided that we were going to eat lunch and then go the the Museum of Nature and Science because we were told that was were the Children's Museum USED to be. So we ate lunch and then went to the Museum. The Children's Museum was still there and so we were excited. We walked through the Museum of Nature and Science and the "safari" really enjoyed the exhibits because the animals did not move, and in the Science wing there were exhibits for light effects, motion, and nature. They had a really good time. When we got to the Children's Museum the "safari" was thrilled, so we let them go. There were exhibits for a farm, fire truck, town, water and then an ant farm. And there was even a place for Hannah to play!






















































Then we headed home. The "safari" did really well and Noel and I are very pleased with how the trip went. We did not get to go to the aquarium but the "safari" had a blast and so did all the adults. In some families the trip would have been "ruined" but we made the best of it and no one could tell that we did not get to do the things we wanted and planned on doing. When we got home the "safari" ate pizza, took baths and went to bed. We did not hear a lot of noise after the lights were turned out. I took some pictures of the van after the bags were taken out. It was a mess, but nothing a vacuum could not handle. We are looking forward to our next trip.




BUT WAIT!

This morning I looked on the web page for the aquarium to see why they did not let people know that they were closed. Come to find out that when Noel put in the information for the the GPS he chose the wrong aquarium. Yes there are TWO aquariums in Dallas the Dallas Aquarium and the Dallas WORLD Aquarium. All Noel and I could do was laugh and plan our trip to the Dallas WORLD Aquarium for August. To let you laugh some more the aquarium that we meant to go to was less than 3 miles from where we were. Now have a good laugh on us. Please see the sidebar for more pictures from our trip.

I want to thank Nana, Papa and Pops for coming along on our adventure and making it fun for the "safari." We are glad that our "safari" has such a good relationship with ALL their grandparents and we hope and pray that we all stay close to each other. Thank you to my sister for allowing her son, Aiden, to come and enjoy some time with the "safari."