Dallas World Aquarium

For our final outing with the Sierra Fam we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. We figured since it was 99 degrees outside, an indoor activity sounded really appealing. It was such a nice change of pace and the kids loved it.

Jackson got to watch the baby penguins as we waited near the entrance for Uncle Mike.

"Those sure are some wacky penguins, mom!"

The entrance to the aquarium sort of reminded me of Hawaii...there's a beautiful waterfall, it's kind of misty and there are all sorts of pretty birds. Then you look to your left and this illusion is shattered because you're now staring at an anteater. (Imagine the anteater pic being here--I can't make it work and I do not want to erase everything I've done just so that picture can be in it's rightful spot)

Pretty soon after arriving we came upon the birdfeeding station. Jackson waited patiently in line and then it was his turn to feed the bird. I thought he was just going to hold a stick with some food on the end of it, like at the zoo, but that was not the case. He actually put a small piece of food in his palm, stuck it through the glass and let the bird come pick it up!

Jackson and Sam got to see so many cool animals--there were stingrays, alligators, sloths, lizards, snakes, monkeys...you name it, we probably encountered it.

One of my favorites, though, was the enormous manatee. It was huge! While we were admiring it and the gigantic catfish, a scubadiver came right up to the glass and waved to Jackson. Bonus!

We finished off our aquarium trip by checking out a few more cool fish. What a fun Friday!