Off to See the Animals

With the beautiful weather in store for the weekend, we decided earlier in the week to head for the Houston Zoo on Saturday. The zoo is located in Hermann Park next to the Medical Center. (http://www.hermanpark.org/) After taking the advice of a co-worker, we went "early" to try to beat the crowd. Now early for us after sleeping in and taking the girls out was nearly 11 AM. The parking lot was quite full, but not nearly packed like it was when we left. People were lined up to take any spot that opened up.

Once we got into the zoo (http://www.houstonzoo.org/), we visited the aquarium to see the fishes, and then headed out to the coy pond. Not only was the pond huge, but the coy within it were gigantic. James and another person there got the fish to come to the surface, so a couple of kids could see them. I couldn't believe the size of their mouths.

Then is was in to see a few birds, turtles, chipmunks, and a few more fish. We got a good laugh out of watching the chipmucks run like crazy all over their exhibit. They were some of the most active critters we saw all day. I think we showed up at nap time. All of the larger animals seemed to be finishing up their lunch or napping in the sun.

The most entertaining exhibit was the meerkats. We found the Hallie and the Ginger in the group. They had no shame! We enjoyed wathcing them chase each other around, dig in the dirt,

and just hang out. The first picture is of one who rolled around in the dirt dirt and then decided to sun. Totally Gingeresque! And then the next guy enjoyed chillin' and enjoying the attention of the crowd.

Then there was Miles, the newest addition to the giraffe family. He was so cute!

We learned while walking around the exhibit that Miles turned 8 weeks old on Saturday. A picture of his stats is included because his size is entertaining. He was 5'9" and 110 pounds at birth, so he's packed on the weight and the inches the last couple of months. The Houston Zoo's website actually has links to updates on all of the new additions. I actually looked up Miles to be sure I got my facts straight, and I saw all of the pictures and updates they've shared about him. How cute!

We ended up spending nearly 3 hours wandering around seeing all of the exhibits. James got his picture taken with the Asian Elephants, and he took mine with the tiger. Not sure what that means, but at least we can show we really went! I thought I was going to get out of having to see the reptile exhibit, but James caught that as he was checking the map one last time. We dodged them upfront when we went to see the meerkats. I went to be supportive but had the hebbie-jebbies the whole time. They just creap me out.

Hallie's & Ginger's Great Adventure

James and I took the little girls to the "bark park" near our apartment this afternoon for some play time. After riding in the car for over 15 hours and being in the apartment only allowed out on a leash, we thought this would be the perfect afternoon adventure. Oh, did I mention it's sunny and 83 with relatively low humidity. :-) We stuck with the "little dog" section of the park to let them aclimate to the whole new experience. As we drove up they quickly heard the other dogs barking and joined it. They could barely wait to get out of the car. Then it was through the gates on the leash and off to the races. Ginger spent the first 15 minutes just wandering around taking in all of the smells; she would be on one trail and quickly move to the next. Hallie and James played fetch with the ball for a little while. Shocking, I know. We decided to mosey on towards the "water element" and see what might be in store. Hallie, even though she can swim, wasn't sure of the whole pond situation. James would toss the ball in, and she would stretch as far as she could to retrieve the ball. Several times it was literally by the fuzz of the ball. But as expected, Hallie got a little braver with each toss. In a matter of 20 minutes, she would swim out to get the ball and bring it back. She went from biting at the ball to getting it in her mouth in one fail swoop. And even better was when she finally would wade in and the lunge toards the ball. She only inhaled too much water a couple of times, but that didn't stop her one bit. Hallie should also get the "plays well with others" award, and her tennis ball was a hot commodity in the park. And all of the lovely owners would always encourage their canine to leave the ball because it wasn't theirs.

Ginger on the other hand, really didn't care about the water at first. She went exploring at our end of the park and would return periodically to "check-in'. The pretty-pretty princess decided she needed some shade and went and sat in the shade under the shelter. But of course Ginger decided she needed some better means to keep cool. Shade wasn't enough, which really isn't a good sign since it's only March. After seeing Hallie and another dog (who is swimming in the picture above with Hallie), Ginger started seeing things in the water. She was barking and carrying on with the water. Eventually, I looked over to find Ginger with her entire head under water. What a crazy nut! She would go under water and bark and come back up and just look at us.

The girls ended up spending nearly an hour running around, socializing, and just enjoying the freedom a few acres can offer. Our trip culminated with the hose shower, which neither one enjoyed, and a ride home with the windows opened. It didn't take long for the great adventure to cause everyone to peter out...Ginger, Hallie, and James; Ginger on the air mattress, Hallie on Pa's lap, and James on the couch.

Happy Birthday to James

Today James arrived in Houston for the first time. YAY! I managed to meander my way around Intercontinental to pick him up at Terminal A. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly get up on time, and even though his flight left nearly 45 minutes late from Memphis, they arrived only 15 minutes late here. Oops! He was waiting for me at passenger pick-up, so there was no lap driving today. At least I know where to go to park for my next trip. (Uh, yeah...Saturday!)

We took a tour on our way to the apartment; drove past the office, Central Market, and stopped at Ninfa's for some lunch. Ninfa's is a local Mexican place with tasty food and a cool atmosphere. There is one just up the street from us on Post Oak & San Felipe. It came a recommendation from Uncle Tom, and we know why. James had a enchilada and poblano along with a taco; I had the fish tacos and traded James for the regular beef taco. They were tasting. And it passed the ultimate test...the Mexican rice test. This is the "true" test of a good Mexican restaurant! I can't wait to go again!

We spent the afternoon just driving around and checking out different areas in town. We drove downtown in hopes of running into the 3-story Specs. That wasn't our luck this time, but it was nice to see the area. We drove back through the Midtown area. This is chalked full of little pubs, restaurants, and shops. We even saw a couple of "biker bars" with tons of patrons. This gives us lots of choices for going out when James is here full-time as well as when we have visitors!

The highlight of the day was dinner! I ended up not making reservations for dinner earlier in the week because I wanted to keep the options open. James decided he wanted seafood, so we went to a place up the street called The Oceanaire. It's actually a chain with just under a dozen locations. They have fresh fish daily, which isn't really that spectacular when you live 30 miles from the ocean. I called for reservations at 6:30 and got a table for 7:30. We arrived on time, shocking, I know, and were taken to our booth. Upon being seated, James noticed there was a card on the table with his name on it. And then even better, the menu had a message on the top. "Happy Birthday James from The Oceanaire"

What James missed was the fact that the woman who took our reservation asked if we were celebrating a special occassion, and of course I said, "Yes, my husband's birthday." She asked for his name, and this was the result. It was a very nice touch! We had a nice Pinot Noir wine, an assortment of oysters on a half shell, and a wonderful dinner. I stuck with the grouper prepared oscar style, and James had the Hawaiian swordfish. Wow! It was such a wonderful dinner, and I was stuffed. But why would you stop there? You must have strawberry cheesecake ice cream baked alaskan. Baked Alaskan is a new term for me, but this is what happened. The ice cream was covered with whipped cream. Our server lit the alcohol on fire and poured it over the dessert. The little girl across the way from us was in aw of our dessert. (And, no I didn't take a picture; who knows what I was thinking at that point.) It was very tasty and a perfect end to a great experience. (Even better, they didn't put it on our bill! )

As a side note, this picture is amazingly similar to our first picture from the New York City vacation. We went to a restaurant/bar there that was open late for a burger and fries. We sat in a booth very similar to this (I think it was red too.), and enjoyed another fun dinner out!