African Safari in Texas!

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of the extra time off and had a family vacation with some of my side of the family.  SO fun!  On Saturday, we planned a day in Glen Rose, Texas, which is a cute little town just south of Fort Worth.  I heard fabulous things about the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center!  We were not disappointed by this AMAZING drive through safari.  I seriously felt like I was in Africa!  I don't know if you're like us, but we are always on the look out for things to do that lots of generations can enjoy.  This trip captivated EVERYONE!  

We started off with a picnic and checked out some of the animals that were in a fenced in area.

Landrie and her cousin Abbie

This picture cracks me up!  We all wanted to ride together, and we found out you can ride in the back of a truck.  I was thinking we should put some blankets or something back there to make it a bit more comfy.  Nope.  My brother Kevin put 4 lounge chairs in the back of the truck!!

Christy, my dad

Mark, Anna, Kevin, Abbie with Landrie, Adelynn and my mom

We rode about 10 feet into the park before I moved Landrie inside the truck with me. :)  This was her constant "oh!" face of amazement at all the animals!

Adelynn proudly matching the animals with our guide.

Abbie and Anna in the back!

Can you see the pure JOY on her face??  I LOVE it!

After about 1.5-2 hours of winding through the property and feeding lots of animals, we reached the halfway point.  They had a little cafe where we stopped for some much needed drinks!  It was HOT.  There was also a gift shop and petting zoo!

Just like at the zoo, I knew we needed a picture to document how big our baby girl is getting!  It looks like we've got an emu, a zebra and an almost cheetah.  Sometimes it feels like that! :)

Oh yes we are!!!!!  :)

Seriously!  How cool is that?  The animals have become quite well trained, and put their faces right in your window if you have feed for them!

I think the zebras were my favorite.  We got to PET (and feed) a TON of them!!  

So beautiful!

This gives you an idea of how many animals there are there!  The zoo has a handful of each animal, but not here!

This is just a short drive from our flat, naturally-treeless neighborhood??  I had no idea that the north part of the  gorgeous Texas Hill Country is just south of Fort Worth!

We headed to an early dinner at The Loco Coyote Grill.  It was only about 4:50, and the line was out the door!  It turns out that people were lined up waiting for it to open. :)  That's a great sign.  Our camera battery died when we got there, so my mom has all the fun pictures.

I found this picture here of the HUGE delicious portions.  It was the kind of place where you eat outside, have live music, and just enjoy living in Texas.  Do you see those onion rings??  

Ahhhhh...a great end to a great day!

This post already has way too many pictures, so I'll post about the rest of the trip in part 2.  We did something totally different (but just as fun!) for the other 2 days...