DFW with Toddlers – A Series
I feel like I’m still very much learning how big DFW is. This area is massive. Our house is in Northlake, a developing suburb north of Fort Worth. We are about 30 minutes from downtown Fort Worth. Interestingly, we are actually not that close to downtown Dallas – probably 45-60 minutes depending on traffic. But there is so much near Dallas that we have been wanting to explore. As we explore and find things to do, I thought it would be helpful to share activities that we have found to be so fun with our toddlers in DFW.
My mom and stepdad were in town earlier this month. I didn’t take much time off from work and the boys were still in school during the week. But, we found a few fun things to do with them on the weekends! And we enjoyed their company after school and work every night.
One Sunday morning we decided to venture to Dallas. We took the boys to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Dallas Farmers Market. I highly recommend both places! I think both are fun with or without kids. Sunday morning driving into Dallas was also amazing – traffic was minimal. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the aquarium.
Dallas World Aquarium
The aquarium was spectacular. We paid for our tickets and parking ahead of time – that made it so easy and convenient. It cost us 30 dollars for each adult, 20 dollars for Ben, Noah was free (kids under 2 are free) and we paid 10 dollars for parking. I thought this pricing was fair for the experience we had! They do offer a family membership that we could have purchased but we didn’t know if we would utilize it enough. That was 400 dollars for just our immediate family for the year. If we lived closer I think I would have considered it.
Immediately upon entering the aquarium you are surrounded by lush plants, high ceilings and various tropical birds. It felt like entering the rainforest. We took an elevator to the third floor and then worked our way down checking out all the exhibits. It almost felt more like a zoo than an aquarium. We saw plenty of fish, turtles, snakes, and birds, but we also saw monkeys, flamingos, penguins, sharks, crocodiles and a manatee! The boys loved every minute of it.
We took a stroller for Noah and let Ben walk. We have a Veer Wagon that they both ride in (and I love and highly recommend) but I’m glad we didn’t use that in the aquarium. Ben was perfectly content to walk and it would have been harder to navigate. I did read reviews of people finding it difficult to navigate with a stroller in the aquarium but we didn’t have that experience. It was really manageable and the elevators were quick. I do think going on Sunday morning also helped us. I imagine it can feel crowded in the afternoons.
We spent about 2 hours in total here and I think that was perfect. I noticed various food spots throughout – I think there was even a stand to grab an alcoholic drink if you felt like imbibing.
Dallas Farmers Market
After the aquarium, we wanted to grab a bite to eat. We found a really cute brunch spot – Ellen’s down the street from the aquarium but the wait was 60+ minutes and we didn’t want to do that with the kids.
So on a whim, we took a short drive over to the Farmers Market. I am so glad we did! This was amazing. There was a giant indoor facility with numerous vendors – all sorts of restaurants, a coffee shop, various stores and a couple bars. As we were leaving, a guy was setting up his piano and guitar to play live music. The whole place reminded me of the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
Then there was an outdoor pavilion with other vendors set up selling different foods and miscellaneous items. It was so fun to walk around. I think the boys enjoyed it too.
I believe the indoor market is open daily. The outdoor market is only open on the weekends. We will definitely be back.
Next on our list of places to take the kids is the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas. We are hoping to take the boys there while my husband’s parents are in town this month! I’ll be sure to report back – stay tuned for future DFW with Toddlers Posts! If you want to read about other places we have explored in Dallas, check out this post!
Drop your email to below to stay in the loop!