Houston Texas, Baby (2018)

I have always enjoyed Houston, spending a good deal of my childhood there with my grandmother, plus Aunt Judy and Uncle Bob Andy. Now I can say that I truly appreciate Houston, especially as I get older (and live in smaller and smaller towns....) We extended our Thanksgiving trip to see family and spend a few days exploring this city, taking advantage of all Houston has to offer in terms of food, culture and fun (especially for the kiddos).  This is the first of what I anticipate to be many trips to this great city.

Y'all know we are loyal Marriott (now Marriott AND Starwoods) people, but when you travel with our crew the VRBO-route is the way to go.  My sister, Stephanie, and her family decided to come down early, too, so we needed a place to accommodate lots of folks. We rented an old, 1920 historic house less than a mile from the museum district, which allowed us to spread out, relax, play in a backyard,  and - very important - put the baby down early without disturbing his sleep cycle. (Wesley cannot handle a late bedtime, poor bubs).  It also made it very convenient to get up and enjoy the museums without having to fight traffic.   AND we got to experience some wonderful hole-in-the-wall restaurants, including one selling street tacos (which were so good - why can't Georgia figure out the beauty of street tacos!?!?!) and Vietnamese pho.

I'll go through all our adventures below:

The Houston Children's Museum

Can't say enough wonderful stuff about this place, although we probably needed 2 days to get through everything. The great thing about it, too, is that all ages could enjoy. Toddler floor for Wes, science room for JB, play city for Maryn and JB. We could bring older kids here in a few years and they'd still get so much out of it.  Heck, even we had a blast playing with stuff!

Helping me with a mortgage document :)

Hermann Memorial Park and Train

Stephanie and her family (minus Tristan, who worked over the holiday back home) joined us for an afternoon in Hermann Memorial Park. We received beautiful, sunny temperate weather, which allowed us to run around, enjoy popsicles and ride the train around the park.  

waving - so cute!!

We love the train - although sad that Gran Gran could not join us (he loves the train even more!)  A throwback photo to 2011 when we all rode it together:

I don't think my sister ages...maybe there is something to her vegan-ish lifestyle (though I'm not about to give up dairy, ha!)

We had a second visit to Hermann Park.  The kids saw this large hill on the train ride, but unfortunately it got too late (and too close to Marcus' birthday dinner!) to let them run and roll.  We promised them another trip the next day, and they had a blast!

The Butterfly Garden at the Houston Science Museum

The Science Museum goes on the list of places to visit again next time, maybe when Wesley is a bit older and can appreciate all the exhibits.  (He did not appreciate his stroller on our trip, but is not yet walking well - or minding). 

We could spend all day there, but decided this year to only spend a morning and experience the butterflies. My goddaughter, Tsydea, (and first cousin, once removed) joined us for the day!

Do we need a pet tarantula??

Hoping to catch a butterfly!

Houston Zoo

And finally, one more adventure in our Houston trip (this time with Grammy and Gran Gran):  the zoo!  We completely underestimated the size of this zoo, and all the different animals and exhibits. Absolutely fabulous.  

How precious is this baby elephant!?  Loooooooooooved him and all his cute squeaks.

From the moment we walked in, JB only talked about the bald eagle.  It took 3 hours and walking the entire perimeter, but we finally found it.

I love these two, and thankful we got to spend Thanksgiving with them.  We've had a lot of good times this year (make Georgia and Texas not feel too far apart...)

OH, and Nitro Ice Cream

It's worth noting that we also got to meet two friends in Humble (Pam and David - no pictures, though!) while we were there.  The kids experience nitro ice cream, and loved watching it made right in front of them.

WHEW, our whirlwind trip to Houston and back.  Barely scratched the surface, so can't wait for another trip in the future. The Space Center is definitely on the list for a future trip, and the kids were disappointed we didn't return to Hermann Park (again) to hit up the massive playground.

I may put a ground stop on our family until Wesley gets a bit bigger. He was a less than ideal flying companion. :) But the big kids (+ Maggie, Maryn's baby doll) were fantastic, giving me hope that we'll one day be a globe-trotting family once again.