Isabelle's First Trip to the Zoo!

Last Friday, we took Isabelle for her first trip to the zoo. My dad was in town from Chicago, so we all piled in the car and drove to the Fort Worth Zoo. It is a beautiful zoo! I wasn't sure how Isabelle would react, but she loves to be outside so I knew she'd at least have fun being in the outdoors all day.

Here we are at the entrance.

The Meerkats were BY FAR Isabelle's favorite animal. I, too, am a huge fan of them. When we got to the Meerkat Mounds, there were none to be found. Then, one lone sweetie pie emerged from a hole in the ground and gave us quite a show at the glass window. Isabelle was squealing with delight at this little guy!

We ventured though Monkey Land (as I like to call it). I'm not sure if she really knew what she was looking at, but we all really enjoyed the show the primates put on for us. It was a beautiful day (sunny, 70 degrees), so all of the animals were out and about enjoying the day.

My little monkey (yes, she was attired in a monkey shirt to mark the occasion of course) is very tempermental when it comes to being in the stroller. She either loves it or hates it. Luckly for us, the first part of our zoo trip she loved it! Here are a couple of pics of her chillin' in the stroller.

This is her pacifier, by the way. She will only suck those two fingers on her right hand. It's pretty funny.

After we ventured out of Ape World, Brendan decided to put her in the carrier so she would have a better view of the animals. Smart Daddy! Once we did this, she really started noticing everything. The giraffes were spectacular! You can see them in the background here.

We ate lunch and then walked through the Texas Wild! exhibit. It has different sections that show all the various landscapes of Texas and the wildlife found there. This picture was taken right after I pushed Isabelle through the aquatic section. She was screaming her head off while in the stroller, so I obliged and cuddled her after several minutes of listening to her cry!

While exiting the Texas Wild exhibit, we came upon this wishing well. Brendan tossed a quarter in as Isabelle watched it drop to the bottom. Too cute!

We strolled through the zoo on our way back to the front. It is such a beautiful place!

When you get to the front of the zoo, there is a wonderful flamingo area. They were very fiesty that day! Isabelle was fascinated with them.

Here's a family photo. I was so glad my dad was able to visit and join us at the zoo.

On our way out we stopped at the gift shop--I really wanted a stuffed Meerkat for her to mark the occasion. You can see by the way she is holding on to it, that she loved him!

Within 5 minutes of being in the car, she was out for the count! Mr. Meerkat was happy to relax with her on the drive home. Our trip to the zoo was wonderful, one that we will always remember. It was so neat to experience it with my little girl. It was like see it for the first time all over again. I can't wait for all of the other adventures that lie ahead!