I wanted to share a few of my favorite Houston Zoo pictures too. I really enjoyed the day off hanging out there. Whoever arranged the exhibits did a fabulous job. You could almost see all the animals! I thought all the architecture and layout was great. I would definitely recommend visiting the zoo if you travel to Houston.
Colorful fishy
Big angelfish
Pretty flowers
Rhinocerous Hornbill
Zebra and baby eland
Big fishy!
Giraffe
Beautiful faces of the giraffes
Too bad it was fake...
Hey everyone! Saturday was girls hanging out in the morning and then a get-together with Tim for the Texans vs. the Saints NFL football game.
Saturday morning Liz, Jenn, and I decided to relax and head to Zoo Houston. It was only $8 since we stopped at a Fiesta to grab tickets and drinks. We even packed our own lunches! LOL We arrived at the zoo and the first thing we did was walk through the aquarium which had plenty of totally cool fish, including piranhas and an eel! Then, we walked through the awesome tropical birdhouse and another neat bird exhibit, where there were tons of totally colorful birds. Continuing through the zoo, we saw zebras, a cute antelope scratching his head on his toy, and some really beautiful flamingos. After we saw a whole bunch of animals, we decided that we were hungry, got our hands stamped, and went out to eat lunch under a tree in the golf parking lot.
As we were eating lunch we began to feed some of the wildlife. Check out Liz’s summary of the day to see a pic of me feeding my new friend—a gray squirrel, LOL. He came right up to me and took a piece of bread out of my hand! Then, he flopped himself down in the dirt to eat it. We then headed back into the zoo to complete the rest of our circle around the entire place. We got to see my favorite animal, the Okapi, who is endangered and the only living relative of the giraffe (who I also really think are so cute!). There is no way, by the way, that Houston Zoo’s claim that Toby the red panda is the cutest animal in the world has any validity. I mean, really, all we saw him do was sleep! AND there is no way that he is any cuter than the baby giraffe or the fluffy flamingo or the handsome Okapi. Okay…that’s just my opinion. LOL Anyway, the Zoo was awesome and TOTALLY worth $8. Loved it!
It was my first NFL game, and the Texans had a really cool bull that the players ran out of that shot fire and smoke out of it! The Saints played a decent game, but the Texans’ defense was really kind of bad. LOL All well! But it was a fun time, and then we drove all the way back to Galveston. Most people, I guess, go to the game to have insane tailgate parties, but they also had a GOArmy site and a Coca-Cola site that Tim and Jenn played a throw the football game. I would love to have finally climbed the rock-climbing wall and also win a t-shirt, but you had to register and give them your info, and I didn’t want forty-seven army fliers coming to the house! LOL Anyways, it was a fun night and we all enjoyed ourselves, though we were crazy tired when we arrived home. C-Ya tomorrow night! LOL
Bird Garden Flower
That's the spot!
Komodo Dragon hanging out
Okapi- Amber's favorite animal
Dude Crush
Hawaiian Hawk
I'm a scary eel
Sitting pretty
Pretty black and blue bird
Pirhana!
You lookin' at me?
Not impressed by the heat at the Texans game
Time for a nap!
Football toss game
Horse police at the game
Day 7: A Day Off: Texas Style
Tim, Jenn, Amber and I took the day off today. Jenn and Amber’s cousin was kind enough to offer us tickets to the Texans v. Saints at Reliant Stadium for this evening. Tim spent the day working on his sermon for Sunday but, came to meet us for some tailgating before the game. Jenn, Amber, and I headed to the Houston Zoo for the morning.
I have to say that the Houston Zoo was absolutely a “bang for your buck” kind of place. We had a full day of visiting many different animals and probably could have spent even more time checking them out. The zoo was perfectly laid out in that you could walk all the way to one end of the zoo and walk back to the exit and have something different to see. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed our time under a shady tree with squirrel and bird friends. Amber was brave enough to let the squirrel take some bread from her hand.
The zoo is a wonderful example of the beauty of God’s creations. Each exhibit we entered discussed respecting the creatures and their environments. At the tiger exhibit, there was a placard about “Texas Tigers”. “There are thought to be more tigers living in the state of Texas than exist in the wild. Almost all of the “Texas Tigers” are privately owned.” Apparently, people who have extremely large pieces of property own hunt them for sport.
There were lots of really beautiful creatures at the zoo. My favorites were the fish and sea turtle, the otters snuggled up, the sloth, and the giraffes. The fish and the sea turtle are awesome! They are graceful and beautiful! I love watching them! All of the little kids were saying, “ There’s a Dori! There’s a Squirt! There’s a Nemo!” (Of course, the term “kids” includes me!) When we went to see the otters they were snuggled up in a log together napping. They were just so cute! I wanted to take them home. In the same exhibit, there was a sloth! He (I’m assuming it was a “he”.) was just hanging out in his tree, totally mellow! I wish I could be that calm and just take it as it comes. To quote Tim, “no worries”. The giraffe exhibit was incredible. They had so many giraffes! A new giraffe had been born recently and the momma and baby giraffe were out for everyone to see. I loved seeing the different generations of giraffes all together.
After the zoo, Amber, Jenn and I headed to meet Tim at Reliant Stadium for the Texan game. We were definitely not anticipating the insane tailgating that was going on before the game. People had big screen TVs, DJs, huge BBQs, etc. I guess what they say is true. “EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas.” Tim and Jenn played one of the football toss games. There was lots of excitement!
The game was rough for the Texans their defense was TERRIBLE! But, needless to say they provided a great backdrop for some fun for all of us. We enjoyed watching the game, watching the people, and watching the halftime show complete with jazzercise and cheerleaders. It was quite a spectacle!
Dori
"Taking on the jellies!"
Squirt!
Flamingo
Amber and her Texas souvenir
Snuggly otters
Jenny goes swimming with the fish
Chill-axing sloth-style
Liz's favorite zoo picture
Tapir blowing bubbles
Monkey see, monkey do!
Cool Iguana
2009 Tailgate Party Winner
Three happy monkeys at Texans Stadium
Texans logo- "flat Toro"
Tim and Jenn's Journey 