Last Thursday, we went on the next part of our staycation. The kids have been asking to ride on a train so we decided to take the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) over to Dallas and go to the Dallas World Aquarium. I made the mistake of telling them a week before the trip about our plans and had to listen to Lily ask at least 257 times a day, "Are we going on the train today?"! Finally, the day of the trip arrived and they were so excited! We left in plenty of time to make the train and then almost missed it due to not being able to find the train station. Luckily, we found it and boarded with a few minutes to spare.
The ride to Dallas was so much fun! The kids loved looking out the windows and I felt like we played musical chairs throughout the hour long ride. Every time I looked up, they were in a different seat!
Once we arrived in Dallas, we had to get on a DART train for one stop and then walk for about three blocks to the aquarium. The kids were so excited about seeing the animals that they didn't even complain once about the walk!
I had heard from friends who have been to the DWA that it is just as much a rainforest as it is an aquarium. The animals that we got to see were great- penguins, sloths, flamingos, otters, and lots of sharks! There were definitely things there that you can't see at the zoo.
The kids favorite were the penguins... they asked to see them twice. My favorite was the sloth. I used to teach my first graders about sloths so it was amazing to actually see one in real life.
One of the highlights of the day was getting to feed a bird. Each of the kids got to let a bird eat a blueberry out of their hand.
After a couple of hours, the kids started getting tired and in order to make both the DART train and TRE on time, we left a little sooner than I had hoped. (The one downside to the DWA is that it is quite pricey. For the amount of money we spent on admissions and food for lunch, I would have liked to have stayed a little bit longer.) The walk back to the DART station was not as successful as the walk to the DWA. By this time, they were tired and hot and Eden refused to walk. Luckily, a piggy back ride from mommy was just what she needed to make it to the train stop! Another highlight of the trip was getting to feed the pigeons while waiting for our DART train.
Eden and Parker were so proud when we let them sit by themselves on the DART.
The kids were very tired but did pretty good on the train ride home, especially after I pulled out Spot It, one of their favorite games right now. It kept them occupied for most of the trip back.
It didn't take long for Lily to crash once we made it back to the car!
Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better day! The kids did great and were finally able to take the train ride they've been asking for! I love making memories with my kids and we definitely made some fun ones on this trip! We have one more day planned for the kids next week and I can't wait to tell them about the last part of our summer staycation!
No comments:
Post a Comment