Kate's Day at the Dallas Zoo

On any given day in August the temperature in Dallas is well over 100 degrees. On Saturday, the forecast was partly cloudy and 85 degrees! What better time to go back to the zoo? The last time we ventured to the Dallas Zoo, we nearly melted. It almost ruined me on any future zoo excursions. Nevertheless, the Stingray Bay exhibit was only going to be there for another 3 weeks, and I doubted we would have another chance to go, so it was now or never. Stingray Bay is an exhibit where you can actually touch the stingrays. I thought it would be a great experience for Kate! The stingrays are in a large wading pool. People can stand at the side, put their hands in the water and "pet" the stingray as it passes by. Kate must have had flashbacks to when she "petted" the dolphins at Sea World, because the moment I lifted her over the side and put her hand in the water she freaked out! She wanted no part of the stingrays- or anything else swimming in that water.

So we cut our losses at Stingray Bay and headed over to the Children's Zoo. They have a really great children's area- complete with pony rides, a huge aquarium, and a petting zoo. There are lots of things for the kiddos to see, touch, pet, climb, and slide on. (Kate didn't mind petting the rabbit and the guinea pig- but neither of them were swimming in the water!) There is even an actual stream (about 1 foot deep) made just for the little ones to run and splash in. The last time we went to the Zoo, Kate was not walking yet, so she was not really able to play in the water. Boy did she make up for lost time! She was running wild in the water! She was the smallest child by far in the stream, but she kept up with all the bigger kids. The faster the big kids ran, the faster Kate did. Mommy had to get in the water with her to make sure she didn't over do it (or get run over by some of the rotten bigger kids!). She really had a great time. After we finally got her out of the water, she played on the slide. After about 3 times down, the rubber on her shoe got stuck on the slide. Unfortunately, her body kept going. She came flying head first off the side of the slide. Luckily Daddy was there to catch her before she hit the ground! She did walk away with a few scratches. At least this time she didn't get run over by Mommy and the stroller!