We stayed at the Fossil Rim cabins near Glen Rose for two nights. The cabins are very basic -- just two twin beds with a narrow walkway between, leading to a small bathroom. We didn't need anything more! Gene and Henry, who like to sleep in, bunked in together, while Will and I, both early risers, shared a cabin. Will and I were up before dawn, enjoying coffee and hot cocoa in the dining pavilion and watching the sun rise. After Gene and Henry joined us for a hearty breakfast, we were off on our behind-the-scenes tour.
As often is the case with our Polar Express adventures, a cold front came through overnight, dropping the temperature down to about 35 degrees for our outside adventure in an open-air truck. Our tour was supposed to be 2 1/2-3 hours, but we had a very slow, repetitive tour guide who informed us her tours were 4 hours long. In the end, because it was so cold, we just did the behind-the-scenes tour with the group and visited the rest of the wildlife center in our own car (with heat and seat warmers!).
The behind-the-scenes tour took us to the Jim Jackson Intensive Management Area, where we saw Mexican gray wolves, red wolves, and a black-footed cat, as well as the cheetahs and black rhinos. It was interesting and we were glad to see some of the animals not on the regular tour.
But, the cold drove us into our toasty car for the rest of the drive for the safari park. Many more animal photos are coming up, so scroll on down if animals aren't your thing!
Blackbuck
Roan Antelope
Scimitar-Horned Oryx
Emu
Greater Sandhill Crane
Fallow deer
Aoudad (just the horns!)
We have discovered that drive-through safari parks are a tremendous amount of fun. We all love feeding the animals and watching them trot up to the car. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center does a lot of good work, conducting research and helping endangered and threatened species.
After our driving tour, we headed back to the town of Glen Rose for lunch. We had eaten at Hammond's BBQ the night before and the boys loved it so much that they asked to go back, so we did. The food was delicious! With full bellies, we headed to nearby Dinosaur Valley State Park.
When we arrived, we were met with a sign telling us the dinosaur tracks were not visible, but we were there, so we decided to go for a short hike anyway. The park rangers told us that we could see the tracks if we got about knee-deep in the water. Henry was all for that and started rolling up his pant legs, but fortunately, we were able to see some tracks without getting in the water. If you look in the photo below, you can see the three-toed track of a theropod (carnivorous dinosaur). The deep impression at the right is a sauropod track (made by a large herbivorous dinosaur). There are hundreds of tracks at the park, and I can only imagine how amazing it would be see when they weren't all covered with water. Nevertheless, it was pretty incredible to walk where dinosaurs walked millions of years ago.
Dinosaur Valley State Park
After a full day of adventuring, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, napping, reading, playing games, and enjoying delivered pizza in the pavilion.
So when Will finds a willing participant or two (usually daddies or grandpas), he goes full force.
Notice his two fingers curled into claws. T-Rexes only have two fingers on each hand. If you had three, you might be an allosaurus. We're all about accuracy when it comes to dinosaurs. 
Henry likes to play too, as long as he doesn't have to be the prey!
Can you see that Henry is sprinkling Uncle Mike with grass? He's a really fierce T-Rex!
Mary was not sure about this game and did not like having the T-Rexes get her daddy. I don't really blame her.
I love it (and so do they!).
and a forked stick. 
that he really really liked
They were outside forever, but they loved it! My mom and I finally gave up and went shopping, but Hanka stayed outside and played dinosaurs with the boys when they were done being jungle explorers.
Will and Henry were the carnotaurs and my dad was a triceratops. Now when we go visit my parents, both boys want to play outside and Will wonders if Hanka will be a triceratops again. I'm pretty sure he will be.
Henry still needs help decorating. He used up most of the blue sprinkles on just one dinosaur. Note to self: buy more blue sprinkles!
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! YUM!
I also found Will's "Dinosaur Train" shirt online.
We used our Lionel train as the centerpiece on the food table and loaded it up with small dinosaurs to make our own Dinosaur Train. 
We had all kinds of food, but my favorites were these little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shapes of dinosaurs. I found the dinosaur sandwich cutter on Amazon and couldn't resist!
The boys couldn't wait to start eating, so Daddy helped Henry pick out a plate full of goodies.
I think the highlight of the party was the real train I booked. As soon as the kids heard there was a train coming, they rushed outside to greet it! They were so excited to ride the train, despite the 100 degree heat! 
I know Will didn't plan it this way, but the last train car was full of his buddies from school. He was so excited to see the friends that he hasn't seen all summer and I'm so glad three of them could make it to our party! 
The train took a very slow loop around our neighborhood. It was hot as blazes, but the kids couldn't wait to ride it again!
After two trips around the neighborhood, we went outside again to hunt for dinosaur eggs in the backyard. 
After three rides on the train and the dinosaur egg hunt, everyone was ready to come inside, cool down, and eat cake! 
Will doesn't like to be the center of attention, so he requested that we not sing "Happy Birthday" to him. He didn't even want a candle on his cupcake!
On the way out, everyone said goodbye to Weezie and got a goody bag filled with Dinosaur Train stickers, dinosaur fruit snacks, and some dinosaur tunes.
After our friends left, Will opened a few of his presents. Gramma and Grampa got him a talking Buddy from Dinosaur Train. 
Will and I read one of the new dinosaur books from Gramma and Grampa.
And his little friend Zach got him Disney's "Dinosaur" movie, which meant the end of opening presents because he had to watch it right away! What a fun movie -- and perfect for our dinosaur-loving birthday boy!
And here's the last picture we took before we all collapsed!
We had so much fun celebrating Will's dino-mite fourth birthday!