Running with the Animals

Fossil Rim is a short drive from my parents (and I get 50% off my ticket with my Dallas Zoo membership) so I wanted to take the kids there. They're crazy about animals and I knew they'd love seeing the wildlife up close and personal (it's a drive through safari zoo sort of). We decided to take my mom's car so she could drive (in case I had to tend to Lily) and so the kids could see out the window a bit more easily. It was a good thing we did b/c Lily spent the entire time in the front seat with me either nursing or just enjoying the ride (it's all off road and we only go 5 mph so it was safe :-).
When we got there, I ran inside and got the tickets and a bag of food. Then we hit the trail. We kept the windows rolled up around the ostriches as they're a bit aggressive, but rolled them down for all the other animals. The kids had fun throwing the food at the animals (although I think Jake at one or two pellets). We only gave them two or three pieces of food at a time or else, most of the food ended up in my moms car.
About half way through the trail, they have a restaurant, picnic area and petting zoo. We packed a lunch and actually got to the stop at noon. We unloaded everyone and looked for the perfect spot to eat. The kids ate some, but were more interested in walking around and exploring so we let them run around a bit and even go in the petting zoo to see turtles and goats (Jake LOVES turtles).
After lunch it was time to hit the trails again. Our favorite stop was coming up and we were excited. There was only one animal you were allowed to feed by hand and that was the giraffes! My mom has a sunroof and we thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing the giraffes eat out of our hand through the roof of the car. However, just before we got to the giraffes, Lily decided she wanted lunch. So I brought her up front to nurse. Mom decided to feed the giraffes without me. Although they aren't the neatest eaters. She feeds the one by us and he immediately starts to slobber on Lily's head. I try to protect her head and mom quickly throws more food towards the hood of the car so he eats over the car vs. Lily's head. It was fun and the kids enjoyed the giraffes, although they didn't know what to think when they stuck their head in the car. They are very slow, gentle creatures so the kids weren't scared, just didn't know what to think about one being in the car.

Feeding the animals

The deer loved getting up close and personal. They knew food was inside each and every car.

You weren't supposed to feed the zebras by hand as they would bite and I think they knew signs were everywhere as they hung out by the giraffes which you could feed by hand! They wanted that food too.