Houston Zoo through Ian's Eyes

 

Just a sampling of photos that Ian took at the zoo!

Houston Zoo Through Mommy's Eyes

 
One great thing about Zoo Memberships is that a lot of other zoos accept that card for free admission or discounted admission to their zoo. Our Cameron Park Zoo membership got us into the Houston Zoo for free! YAY for a fun activity that doesn't cost us any extra. (We've had our membership 3 months and have already more than made up for the 60 dollar cost!)

The Houston Zoo appears to be going through a modification process so I am sure it wasn't quite up to the normal par and we noticed it. It does have a fantastic primate section and a lovely bird pavilion that Ian claimed was his favorite. He really enjoyed finding and see the birds in real life that correlated with the bird plush that he has at home. We saw elephants, lions, giraffes, got to brush the goats in the petting zoo, and rode the carousel. We had a good time! It was super hot though so we were glad to go back to our car and get a drink!!

Ian also had a camera and was snapping photos. I'll post his photos in a collage in the next post!

Astros v Rays Part 1

 


Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd...

We went to the Friday night game at Minute Maid Stadium and saw the Astros beat the Rays in a 2-1 game. We had awesome seats along the 3rd baseline just 4 rows from the field. The kids were pretty good considering the length of time that we were there and the time they needed to be still. Ian had to go to the bathroom so Bill took him. When they came back, Ian had a balloon sword and a flower. He had been given the sword by some girls making balloon creations on the concourse and then asked them sweetly if he could have a flower to give to his mommy. Can I get a collective awwwwwwwwww? So sweet, yet that flower balloon was super annoying. It was way to long to hold confortably without blocking someone's view from behind or whacking someone in the head with it in front. Yeah! Big fun! But we did get to see the Rays play some ball and wear our cool jerseys and eat hotdogs, popcorn and cotton candy. I suppose we can say it was fun in spite of the score.

Destination Houston

 
We arrived at our Hotel, the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston. We are Hilton Honors members so we had booked this trip on a steal back in January. We are on the executive level with a great view of Discovery Park and the Minute Maid Park. Aaron was still asleep when we arrived and stayed asleep in his stroller for 30 minutes after our arrival. We then took a short walk over to the ballpark to purchase our tickets for the games!

Moody Gardens Day 2

 
We went back to Moody Gardens to take advantage of the 2nd day free admission. We really enjoyed the aquarium again. It definitely is the best feature there. We then went over and saw Happy Feet in 4D Imax. It was cute and the kids enjoyed that. Then we ran through the rainforest to see more bugs and the birds and botanical gardens and then went to see the butterflies one more time before heading out. The kids were tuckered out.

Hotel Pool

 

This evening after dinner at Cici's Pizza, we took a little dip in the hotel's pool. Ian is a little fish. He loves going swimming. Aaron still takes some warming up, but by the end he was swimming on his own with his floaty vest and swimmies. Obviously, he was never more than arm's length away from us, but he was so happy to be able to float on his own!

Moody Gardens Day 1

 

This afternoon we ventured over to Moody Gardens. It's a resort complex and hosts an aquarium, a rain forest, and a discovery center under 3 separate PYRAMIDS. It also boasts a butterfly garden, a 3D IMAX theater and a 4D IMAX theater. There also is a water park, but that part was closed today. All of these things are included in admission price which was a bit hefty, but they are running a deal where you get 2 days for the price of one. We went ahead and did this knowing we could go back tomorrow for some of the things we missed out on today like the boat ride, etc. Ian had a great time. He was super excited about the Aquarium and the Butterfly gardens. Aaron was bushed from the beach this morning so he missed about 1 hour of our tour and woke up in the RainForest. :) We are excited to go back tomorrow for more fun!

Galveston Beach

 

Today we got up, had our breakfast, and then walked across the street to the beach! It's a silty sand sort of beach, great for making sand castles. Ian was right at home. Aaron took a little warming up, but before it was all said and done he was having a great time, too. Daddy and the boys dug a huge hole and made a big pile of sand. Ian collected shells and Aaron just ran around and then would come back to have a little rest under the umbrella with mommy. We used a new 90 SPF sunscreen and thankfully after only 1 reapplication in 2.5 hours, we have no sunburns to report.

Day 2 Final Destination!

 
 
 
 
Galveston, Texas! More adventures to follow tomorrow!

Mr Wooly

When you are driving long distances with small children you are always happy to see one of these:

 

with one of these:
 

What you don't expect to find is one of these:
 
 


Ian spotted Mr Wooly down by the play structure and immediately proclaimed it Mr Wooly, just like Papaw has on his face! My dad always teases Ian about having a wooly worm on his face since he has a white, wooly mustache. Ian gets so tickled so when we spotted Mr Wooly we had to take a closer look.

Mr Wooly hung out on our straw for a few minutes and was safely deposited back in the bushes. No bugs and or children were harmed in the making of this blog post. :)

Eating Our Way Across America

 
 
 
 


My husband LOVES to research places to eat along the way to our final destinations. Some our along the highway and others are off the beaten path. Today was a little place called City Market in Luling, TX. I personally had never even heard of Luling, TX so the fact that this place even made the RADAR of good eats was a sign that we had to stop if we are following our guts (literally) to find the best BBQs in Texas. We drove a few minutes off the highway and I was beginning to wonder where the heck we were headed, but low and behold, there was a small town and as we drove through on the left hand side of the road was a completely FULL parking lot. YUP, we'd found it. So we went inside and sat down and grubbed on some pretty darn tasty barbeque. The brisket wasn't the best that I have had so far, but the ribs were FANTASTIC.

The Alamo

 
 
 
 
Today we woke up and went to breakfast before heading down to the Alamo. You can't go to San Antonio for the first time and not see the Alamo so since it was the first time for me and the boys we did just that. I knew it wasn't a huge place, but it was even smaller than I realized and the story behind it just makes it all that more remarkable. 200 against 2000 just makes those men that much more brave to me. So we enjoyed our little tour and movie and now will "Remember the Alamo!"

 
 
 
 

Cookies and a Movie

Had to stop for a bathroom break and a romp on McD's play structure. We met a wooly friend who will be posted later. Stay tuned!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Weimar,United States

Stow Away Passenger

And he has been confiscated because they are fighting over him. 3 more hours in the car to our destination... Galveston. Help me Lord! I need patience in large doses!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Waelder,United States

Post Alamo

So tired...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Kingsbury,United States

San Antonio Riverwalk

 
 
 
 


Tonight we went to the San Antonio Riverwalk to see the sights. We walked around for a while and then ate at Casa Rio which is the oldest establishment on the Riverwalk. After that we took a boat ride on the river to really see everything. Ian really enjoyed it. Aaron was a pill. Surprise Surprise!