When I was in kindergarten, we had a foreign exchange student who lived with us for a year (we actually did this 3 different times, but Mizuho was the first) and over the years we have kept in close contact with her.  We got to go visit her and her family in Tokyo in 2011 and she brought her daughters to the US that same year.  This year for their spring break, they decided to come visit again and would spend part of their visit here in Dallas with my husband and me (my brother and his wife live here too… so they got to visit all of us!).

The girls are all learning English, while Mizuho is fluent, so there was a lot of translating going on, but I am so impressed with the girl’s ability to pick up the language! But since we decided to do a whirlwind of Dallas activities in one weekend I decided to snap some photos and share with you all some of the best things to do in Dallas (especially with kids!).  I’ve tried to include info on admissions prices/time to allocate, but check out each website for up to date information!

1. The Arboretum— I could not have been more impressed with the Arboretum.  I have been before and always enjoyed the beautiful blooms and the views of Whiterock Lake, but I had never experienced their children’s area! It was amazing! There were tons of things for kids of all ages to do and play with, including water features, tree houses, places to learn about weather and light reflection, tons of options. And everywhere you looked were beautiful blooms!

We managed to hit it up when it was both GORGEOUS outside, the tulips were blooming, and the Japanese Cherry Blossoms were in bloom.

As far as price goes, we ended up getting a family membership for 125 dollars.  It was the same price as 6 adults and I’ll be able to use it all year to take people in.  If you live in Dallas or know someone who does, I think this would be an excellent gift idea for Christmas.  I’ll definitely be using my membership! I know in the fall they have houses made out of pumpkins and they have concerts out on the lawn periodically, so check the website for events!

Cost: If you are just in town for a short period or aren’t interested in a membership, tickets are $15 dollars for adults and $10 for children (12 and under).

Time: Depending on how long you like to be outdoors (and how hot it is) allow at least an hour for the children’s area and an hour to walk the rest of the gardens.

Food: We ate at the Two Sisters Cafe in front of the children’s area, it is mostly sandwiches and self serve items, with a few items that can be heated up in provided microwaves.  The food was good, but pricey.  The arboretum does allow you to bring in your own food and drinks, so a packed picnic would definitely be the way to go!

2. The Perot Museum–definitely a great stop for inquiring young minds.  It is nature and science museum that has TONS of great exhibits.  I highly recommend taking the escalator to the top floor and working your way down, but you should time your visit well because the second floor has a lot of hands on activities that are fun for all ages (see my dad below concentrating very hard on making the ping pong balls pop!)

They also have some really cool dinosaur skeletons, information about space and weather, even a place where you can practice reading the forecast:

There is a ton of information in the museum, so if you are with a science buff, allow a little extra time.  But for kids and adults there is a great balance of hands on activities, media, and information.  We didn’t take advantage, but they also have some 3D movies that I think would be kind of fun to see.  I always loved those as a kid!

The building itself is pretty amazing, with a lot of thought going into making it sustainable and interesting.  And there are some outdoor areas that you can play music or play on the frogs before you even make it in to the building.

Cost:  $17 for adults, $11 for children ages 2-17

Time: I would allow 3 hours minimum if you want to see the whole museum, longer if you are with someone who wants to read everything!

Food:  I wouldn’t plan on eating at the museum (although they did have a cafe).  I would plan on eating a dinner or lunch at a good Mexican place like Chuy’s or El Fenix or pick up food to go and eat out at Klyde Warren Park which is not far from the museum.

3. George W. Bush Presidential Library— A beautiful building on my grad school alma mater’s campus, the Bush Library is a great museum.  It walks through the Bush family’s private lives, giving you glimpses into their pre-White House days, September 11th, and the presidency as a whole.  I definitely underestimated how emotional it would be to rewatch the footage from 9-11.  The Library does a really good job of being reverent to the power of that day, but also giving you glimpses of what it would be like to be the president during an event like that.

One of the cool things to do in the museum is to sit at a replica of the Resolute Desk in an oval office that is built completely to scale.

I’m not sure younger kids would get as much out of this museum as some of the others, but there were definitely field trips of 2nd and 3rd graders three while we were there… so there is definitely some for them to see and experience.

Cost:  $16 for adults, $14 for children ages 13-17, 10 for children ages 5-12, free for under 5

Time: I would allow 2 hours to see the Library and watch the videos

Food:  There aren’t any restaurants that I saw in the Library, and food and beverages are prohibited.  So eat before or plan to eat after!

4. The Fort Worth Zoo— (there was some debate about whether we would go to the Dallas Zoo or the Fort Worth Zoo, I think both are good zoos, we ended up going to Fort Worth because it was open later on Sundays and we could only go late afternoon).

I will start off by saying I am not a huge Zoo fan.  I don’t love seeing animals in cages and I feel like many zoos are exactly the same.  BUT I do have to admit that the girls loved getting to see all the animals and the Fort Worth Zoo does a great job of allowing you to be up close to the animals to really get to see and experience them.  And maybe more importantly for a Texas zoo, they have a lot of good shaded places to walk and places to sit down, so for all of you tired and hot mom’s, this would definitely be a plus in my book.  Not to mention, the people watching is almost as good as the animal watching!

Aside from somewhat tragic timing of walking through the raptor canyon at feeding time (There was a real national geographic moment as an eagle was fed its live rat, at which point we discovered that one of the girls has a very tender heart and loves hamsters… so THAT was traumatic), it was a great visit.

Cost:  $12 for adults, $9 for children ages 3-12, free for under 3

Time: We were there for about 2 hours and that was a good amount of time.  If you have slower walkers or want to linger around various animals, I would allow 2.5-3 hours.

Food:  There are tons of restaurants and snack bars, but everything is a bit pricey and not healthy at all.  Although they have a Dickey’s BBQ in the zoo, and I love Dickey’s so if you plan on eating… that is a good option.  You are allowed to take your own food and you are definitely allowed to bring water bottles and I highly recommend taking them, especially if you are visiting in the summer.

5.  The 6th Floor Museum— We didn’t actually get to fit this one in on this trip, but I have been several times and it is one of my Dallas Favorites.  Housed in the Schoolbook Depository building where Lee Harvey Oswald theoretically took the shot that killed Kennedy, this building has sweeping views of Downtown Dallas and Dealey Plaza. It also houses an impressive collection of information about Kennedy’s presidency and assassination. They do an excellent job of showing you what information there is on the actual event as well as conspiracy theories and other information surrounding the event, they even show the famous Zapruder film that shows the assassination occurring.

This is a picture I took out the window at the 6th floor museum that I took last fall when I was there for an event.

Definitely worth a visit, especially if you are a history buff or interested in the Kennedy Assassination.  There are not really a lot of activities for young children, but a definite must see for older children and adults.

Cost:  $16 for adults, $13 for children ages 6-18, free for under 6

Time: 2 hours is about the right amount of time if you want to go through the museum and get a lot out of it, but again, if you want to read everything allow a little extra time.

I love Dallas and all of the things it has to offer, so I’m always happy to have visitors to my city! What do you think Dallas-ites, have I missed anything?