With the gorgeous fall weather that finally came to Dallas this past weekend, my family was itching to find outdoor and non crowded activities (non crowded venues are a must for us these days, with an active 18 month old who has not quite mastered the art of listening when we say stop!).
My son is obsessed with air planes and we’ve talked about going to the Addison Airport, but my son doesn’t sit well in his car seat 
when the car isn’t moving. And we tried watching the air planes at Bachman Lake, but Parker spent the entire time trying to jump in the lake with the ducks.
A quick Google search sent us skeptically headed to Founder’s Plaza at DFW Airport. With all the construction and chaos at the airport in the last few years, I was doubtful that anything good existed out there! Needless to say, we were shocked at how much we loved Founder’s Plaza!
Most importantly, the park is set back far off the main road so I wasn’t worried about my son running in to traffic. Perfect for an active toddler still learning boundaries!
The airplanes weren’t taking off on the closest runway, but we still had a great view of the planes and saw one take off every 3 or 4 minutes! My son would freeze and follow the plane until it was over the horizon.
In addition to being able to watch the planes take off, there was also a large hill that my son loved racing up and down. I am pretty sure that my husband chased him up and down that hill 15 times! I always love an outing that guarantee’s a good nap!
For the older kids, there is a radio that is broadcasting a live feed of air traffic control talking to the air planes! Even I thought it was interesting to hear them run through their check lists for take off, landing and questions about any issues that came up. There are also cool binoculars that really let you zoom in and follow the planes as they take off and land.
I wish we would have brought a picnic lunch; there were great picnic tables that offered such a good view of the runways. Also, it was pretty windy out there since there are almost no tree’s, so if it’s a slightly cooler day make sure to bring a sweater.
When it was all said and done, we spent about an hour at Founder’s Plaza. My son raced up and down the hill, up and down the side walk, waved at every single person we passed, and chased the airplanes until they were out of sight. A definite win in my book, especially when he took an extra long nap!
I’ve been taking my sons here for a couple years now! they l ove it! Get a snow cone in the summer on the way and a hot chocolate togo from home in the winter. very fun with a picnic too!
That’s really fun !!