Disclaimer – Our trip was sponsored by The Palm Beaches. All opinions are 100% my own.
This past week our boys had their winter break….yes, we had one in December for Christmas and now another one in February and when we were asked to go to Florida to share on Instagram some family friendly places near The Palm Beaches – we were IN. Of course, they didn’t know we would be oversharing (as one does in 2018) and doing complete blog posts on our travels. So in full disclosure, nobody chose where we would go and what we would do. If anyone gets the credit for these travel journals – it’s you guys. I asked where I should go and you guys made some killer recommendations! You were SO right. We had the best time and you guys were the best travel directors 🙂
So on our first day in The Palm Beaches, we drove over to a place called Lion Country Safari. It was one of the best parks I have ever been to! Also the sun was very bright that day so it made for a super photogenic picture!
The term “park” is really not accurate because it is a lot more than that. It’s kinda like a drive-through safari experience, a zoo, a theme park, and a splash pad all in one.
While we were there, we got to do the drive through part which has all sorts of crazy animals….
They come right up next to the car….
The boys favorite was this ostrich that would get really close to the car and gulp like he was eating something.
The animals are crazy beautiful. Their colors and texture are fascinating. It’s like the ultimate inspiration for interiors!
Look how crazy close they would get!
And this was the group of rhinos that I was shocked over. I have literally never been so close to these giants or seen so many! They are HUGE.
The boys loved the zebras and the ‘deers’…that was basically what they called all the animals that were four legged (impalas, wildebeest, kudu, etc.)
This was the primate area….we saw one with a t-shirt on and the kids thought it was the best thing ever.
The giraffe area was especially cool. The park lends you a cd that tells you all sorts of fun facts as you drive through. Just as you think they couldn’t get any taller, they would extend their heads up and then stick out that crazy long tongue.
We originally thought we would go to the beach after the drive-thru section, but we changed our minds and ended up staying for several more hours when we realized that there was so much more than just the safari.
First it should be noted that it was a humid day – it had sprinkled when we were in the car which helped but the best part of keeping us cool was the park had lots of shade.
Maxi digging in the dirt while we take bathroom breaks.
Figuring out the plan of attack!
That gator (!!!) – you better believe I was double checking the thickness of the wall!
They also had paddle boats but we didn’t get to do that because #toomanykidsnotenoughadults
Enjoying the misting areas….
So once you go inside, there are different sections. The first one we went to was the area with animals. The boys LOVED this because it was closeup to some beautiful creatures.
I mean….just look at how beautiful it is!
Fun fact – sometimes I call Ella my little cockatoo because her hair curls up on top and looks like the bird 🙂
How is this even real?!
My littles were dying to ride the ‘train’ so we all climbed aboard.
And my big boys wanted to play putt-putt. We only did about half the course but it was adorable!
Jeremy enjoying the breeze….
There was a really pretty carousel right next to the water that we hopped on and it was Ella’s first ever ride! I think she enjoyed it. Side note – all my post part hair loss is growing back in…..and of course, it is coming back gray. Awesome. #advancedmaternalage
We told the boys that they had dinosaurs and they kinda believed us until they saw them. Max still questioned if it was alive 🙂
Then came splash pad time. The boys pulled on bathing suits and they were able to splish and splash till they were blue in the face.
Max showing off his muscles 🙂
Then of course, Weston had to show him how it’s done.
After the boys went down the water slides a couple times, we discovered that there was a lookout for giraffes and that it was dinner time! AHHHHH!!!
For a couple dollars, we got a bunch of lettuce and the kiddos had a BLAST feeding the giraffe!
I mean seriously guys. This wasn’t even on my bucket list because I didn’t realize how awesome it was.
In this moment, I realized that I could never give my kids an experience better than this!!!
Just incredible! And then we piled into the car, headed back to our hotel and the kids crashed (probably dreaming about feeding all the giraffes or becoming an animal conservationist!) – all that to say, if you are in the West Palm Beach area – this is a really fun attraction for the whole family. I really wish my sister and her kids came with us because this was one for the books! And for those of you wondering….here is the website for their info.
p.s. I know y’all are gonna ask….my sandals are from here and on sale for under $15.