While the days leading up to Christmas were hectic and full, we finally had some down time after the holiday itself. On Friday, we went to iPic to see Jumanji, 2, which was our big Santa present this year. Experiences are great gifts, and iPic is a fantastic way to see a movie.
Monday was a gorgeous day with bright blue skies, so we headed west to Stephen F. Austin State Park. We had a full car: the four of us, Gramma and Grampa, and Ruby!
Stephen F. Austin State Park is one of our favorites. It's less than an hour from Houston and is full of cardinals and other birds in the winter.
We hiked about 2 miles and then enjoyed our picnic lunch before visiting the new museum at San Felipe de Austin Historic Site. When we arrived, Ruby thought the sculpture dog was real and barked like crazy until we dragged her over to have a sniff. It was quite amusing!
The museum is really well done, with artifacts like this original 1834 log cabin, as well as interactive, multi-media displays.
Outside the park are some short trails through the original lots of land given to the first colonists.
The museum is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.
We arrived at the zoo ten minutes before opening so wandered around the lake, looking at the ducks and getting chased by an angry goose.
At the zoo, we toured the new wetlands exhibit, where we saw the bald eagle and the whooping cranes.
Almost as tall as a crane!
It was a beautiful day and the zoo was not very crowded at 9am.
The male tiger was out
and the lions were receiving enrichment (bones were thrown in the water, so we actually saw the lions active and in the water, which is unusual).
We even saw all three gorilla groups: the bachelors, the family group, and the three new young boys.
Henry, the gorilla, is 9 years old and is part of the new group of young males.
Bobbie is the new baby giraffe, born in October.
The zoo was absolutely delightful and we all had a wonderful time.
By 10:20, we were all tired, so we headed over to the train to ride it around Hermann Park. Henry and I enjoyed lunch with Gramma and Grampa to end our morning outing.
On New Year's Eve, we went to the annual family party that we attend every year. It was as loud and fun as always. We ate and talked, the boys played, and this year, I saw many students from my school. Will was the dog whisperer and had these two snoozing on his lap.
2019 was a busy, busy year for us in all sorts of good ways. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store in 2020!
No comments:
Post a Comment