Acknowledgements
To my parents,
Dorothy Shay and James Shay,
who made sure I experienced all the fun and opportunities
that the Dallas-Fort Worth area has to offer.
And to my children,
Preston and McKenna,
and my wife, Michelle,
may we do the same for our kids.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it probably takes at least a small village to write a book. I am grateful for this chance from Ed, publisher of Parent's Guide Press/Mars Publishing, Inc., and his skills at building this company. I'm thankful for the guidance and help from my editors, Anna-Lisa and Lars, as well as the work of others at Parent's Guide Press. And I have to acknowledge the About.com Internet site where I spied the notice for this opportunity.
Numerous people recommended Dallas/Fort Worth attractions and even supplied photos for this work. Representatives of area convention and visitors bureaus were extremely helpful, including Sylvia from Dallas, Greg from Fort Worth, Angela from Arlington, Mona from Irving, Cheri from Grand Prairie, Bob and Sharon from Addison, Derrick from Farmers Branch, Debra and Laurie from Waxahachie, Tracy and Carmen from the Dallas/Fort Worth Area Tourism Council, Joe from Lancaster, Nancy from Athens, Linda from Paris, Christine and Julia from Denton, Kim from Lewisville, Ashley from North Richland Hills, and Billy from Glen Rose.
Thanks to others who contributed photos, such as Richard, Catherine, Lanetta, Mary, Shellie, Carol, Mindy, and Sondra. And I appreciate all those people who took time from their busy days to answer my questions, like Rich with the Cowboys, Lyndsay from the Fort Worth Zoo, Sr. Cpls. Gilliam and Lucio with the Dallas Police Department, and Bob from SMU. And I have to acknowledge all of the attractions that opened themselves to me and my family, from the Dallas Zoo and Mesquite Championship Rodeo to the Movie Studios at Las Colinas, Tarantula Train, and the Scarborough Renaissance Faire. My son, Preston, and I pursued some activities we had not before, such as taking a fossil-hunting field trip with the Dallas Paleontological Society. My wife, Michelle, who missed that trip, noted she had also done some activities for the first time, like a gondola ride.
I appreciate others like Jennifer, Steve, Mike, and Ken who made some recommendations. I acknowledge resources like Dallas Child magazine, GuideLive, and others listed in the back of this book that provide much helpful information and ideas. And I really thank the editors of other publications, such as Gayle, Shelly, Darrin, and Sharon, who fed me some free-lance work to help pay some bills as I was tackling this book.
Finally, I have to thank my immediate family, Michelle, Preston, and our daughter McKenna, who was born about one month before the book was due, for putting up with me as I devoted so much time to research and sitting at the computer, and for accompanying me to the attractions. I also acknowledge my dad, Jim, mom, Dorothy, sister, Kathy, her husband, Barton, their daughters, Erika and Julia, brother, Patrick, his wife, Deneen, their children, Morgan, Austin, and Krystal, mom-in-law, Adele, brother-in-law, Norman, his wife, Barbara, their son, Tyler, brother-in-law, Paul, his wife, Andrea, and their daughter, Brooke, and friends like Dianne and Jerold who also accompanied us at various times. I've had fun visiting these places and learned a lot more about the area where I have lived for most of my 43 years. Perhaps that will translate to these pages.
©2008 Parent's Guide Press/Mars Publishing Inc.
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