I really wanted to take the kids to Fossil Rim this year for Mother's Day. It was kind of expensive for all of us to go, but thanks to a good friend of mine we got in for free! It was such an amazing way to spend the day!
If you don't already know, Fossil Rim is a natural wildlife reserve that you can drive through located in Glen Rose, TX. We packed everything up the night before and were ready to head out on Sunday morning. The trip there was only about an hour. We arrived and headed inside for potty breaks and to buy food for the animals. They only allow you one bag of food per car to protect the animals, but it would have been nice to have more. We found the kids some cool plastic safari hats and Fossil Rim animal cups with their names on them. They were so excited!!!
I made an executive decision to take the car seats out of the back seat against my hubby's wishes. We were only going to be driving up to 10 miles an hour, and I wanted the kids to be able to move around. We stuck them in the trunk and were ready to roll. The kids thought it was cool to get to run around the back seat freely.
The first animals we came to were deer. I don't know what kind and honestly half of them all look the same to me. Dallas could probably tell you each and every one of them. They were very nice animals and hungry animals. The kids did not know what to think at first about them sticking their heads in our car, but within minutes they were laughing and having fun.
They fed them over and over. We feared if we did not get moving we would not have any food left.
We moved along and found some kinds of antelope. Dallas and this animal were having a starring contest while the kids and I were getting restless.
The views while driving through the park were amazing. The extremely steep inclines we had to drive up and down, I could have done without.
Aw, Look at my little Safari Explorers!
Next on the trail were the reindeer. They were so gentle the kids could feed them out of their hands. They were hungry and would eat until you were done feeding them.
Ethan really liked the reindeer and feeding them one pellet at a time.
HELLO!
We were nearing the giraffes and traffic was backed up. Feeding the giraffes is one of the big highlights of the drive so cars bottle up. Luckily there were plenty of reindeer and zebras to keep us busy while we waited.
You can NOT feed zebras with your hand. They bite! We warned the kids of this and were very careful to watch them. I had brought buckets for this very reason. I was hoping the zebras would eat out of the buckets so the kids could still see them up close. Too bad I under estimated the size of a zebra's snout! He tried and could not reach the food so we had to throw it on the ground for him. I will know to bring a much bigger bucket next time.
The kids still enjoyed watching them eat off of the ground.
Dallas' zebra tried the bucket too with no luck. His zebra was a little more agitated about it than mine. Ha!
Look at those smiles! That is what it is all about.
The giraffes were simply beautiful! Ethan after throwing a zebra food.
We are next... We let the kids get in the front seat for this so we could help them.
Daddy helped the kids Paige then Ethan. I had to stick my hand over a few times too. Their mouths are so soft and gentle, but they are giants!
I can not explain the kids excitement over feeding the giraffe. I am so happy one of the giraffes was actually eating at the cars. These are wild animals and you can't make them come to your car simply because you paid to see them. We were fortunate to have a lot of animals to feed that day.
Look at this picture of the babies, awesome! Hold on Ethan we are on the road again.
After the giraffes it was time for lunch. We pulled up to the middle stopping point and got everyone out of the car. After potty breaks it was time to eat. We grabbed a picnic table and got out all our goodies. We did not want to spend all the extra money or time waiting for food at the restaurant. Instead we had sandwiches, chips, frozen grapes and fruit snacks. It was a little windy but still very nice outside.
Ethan had his first pickle and surprising liked it.
Once we finished lunch we took a few more potty breaks, and we were back in the car and ready for more. Next on the list was the Cheetah reserve. Dallas really enjoyed this! I did not post many pictures because they are all through chain link fences. I kept telling the kids we had to be quiet while looking at the Cheetahs. The poor little things were already pacing up and down the fence.
Around a few more turns we come head to head with an ostridge. He was just trotting down the road like he owned it. I guess he kind of does. He did not care one bit about our car coming towards him. We looked at him a little bit and threw out some food. Then a little further up the road we see another one. He comes straight to Dallas' window which was almost all the way rolled up. Dallas and I have been here before. We know you roll your windows up near the ostridges.
He knew the window was not down enough to get us, but he still tried! The kids were going crazy, laughing and running around the back seat. Of course Daddy and I were acting like he was going to get us too. :)
He kept biting the window at Dallas. Then the one we had past a little earlier joined his friend and pecked at the back windows. The kids were going nuts. It was one of the best parts of the entire drive.
"Hey, I am watching you!" That ostridge was great!
After feeding more antelopes and deer we made our way out of the drive threw part of the park. We got out of the car and decided to walk over to see the Rhino. We wanted to get our blood moving a little before we had to get back in the car. Along the way we found big dinosaur eggs and of course... photo opp!
We could not get a picture with them both looking to save our lives.
After the rhino Daddy had to carry them back on the long walk to the car. It had been a great day, but we were all tired.
Ethan was out almost immediately, and Paige was not far behind him.
We drove over to Grandbury before heading home to visit our friends, Tiffany and Jake. We went to their house for a while before we headed to dinner with Tiff. I had never been to Babe's Chicken before so I was excited to try it. The food was very good, and it did not take long to get which is a plus with hungry toddlers. Besides the 15 potty breaks we had such a great dinner.
We had finished dinner, and I was in the bathroom yet again with Ethan. When we came out of the door we heard The Hokey Pokey playing loudly.
He literally took off running into the dining area to join in the song. He was getting his groove on to Hokey Pokey!
Paige joined him and the wait staff out on the floor. Everyone in the restaurant was watching and laughing at our kids. They were so cute! After the song was over the manager brought them over Hokey Pokey Stickers and made a big deal out of them.
We finished up at the restaurant and headed out to the car. Paige put her hand on a wooden banister while walking and got a huge splinter in her hand. It was not the way we wanted to end the day. I attempted to get it out with tweezers Tiffany had in her purse, but Paige was going ballistic. We decided to leave it alone until we got home. The poor thing has had a splinter before so she knows what it is like to dig one out. She rode with her hand held out the entire hour drive home. We finally got most of the splinter out before giving up because her poor hand was starting to bleed. She was a very big girl even though it took two of us on top of her to get it out of her hand.
Besides the splinter ordeal it was such an amazing day! I had such a good time with my family. I love Mother's Day because it celebrates the most important job I will ever have... being a mother!!!
PS That Monday after work Dallas insisted I go hang out with some friends while he took care of the kids. I argued that was not necessary but after a while I gave in and left. He took care of the kids and cleaned the house. I came home once again reminded of how extremely lucky I really am!
.jpg)
