A Weekday Adventure: Visiting The Zoo with Henry

The boys still have a number of different holidays this year. Henry was off for Rosh Hashanah while Will had Yom Kippur off, and Will is currently enjoying a four-day weekend for Columbus Day. It just means that I get special one-on-one time with each of my boys! They always pick different things to do.

In September, Henry chose to go to the zoo. We lucked out with a mild, overcast day with a decent chance of showers. We toted our umbrellas along but never ended up needing them.  

We really wanted to check out the new Black Bear exhibit, which is quite spectacular. Instead of a ditch separating the bears from the visitors, there is now a large window, which means the bears have a lot more space.

  

 The new male lion, Hasani, was prowling around 

and the silverbacks were just relaxing.

We also saw the brand new northern white-cheeked gibbons. These brothers were so active and fun to watch.

Baby Tilly was out as well, surrounded by her mother, father, big sister and the matriarch of the herd. Tilly has quite a personality!

We spent a couple of hours wandering around and ended our visit with a stop at the new nature playground. Henry's a bit big for it, but it would be absolutely delightful for younger kids.  

It was really a great day to be at the zoo -- not too warm and not at all crowded. It's even better to have some special time with just one kid, doing exactly what he wants to do.

Lately: A September Recap

Despite the lack of blog posts around here, we are keeping busy with full days and fun outings. Here's a peek at some of what we did in September:

We are all huge Astros fans, but we hadn't been to a game this season. Luckily for us, a friend of Gene's had tickets he couldn't use and we were able to spend a Sunday afternoon at the ball park. Our seats were fantastic and the Astros won!

This one isn't a huge fan, but he tolerates the game for the rest of us. 

Another evening, we went to the science museum for a members' night.

Our farmers market changed locations a few weeks back. The new spot is fantastic but we dodged rain storms the first two weekends. You can see the ominous clouds rolling in.

Both boys have a number of activities this year.  Will is doing fall volleyball and viola at school as well as a bunch of clubs that meet during his lunch period. Henry is taking piano and art and has Cub Scouts, Name That Book Club and Crossover (a 5th grade after-school program one day a week at a local church). It's a bit much for Henry but he loves all his activities and won't give any up.

Henry's Cub Scout den chose a patrol name and created a flag. They are the Radioactive Gummy Ninjas and Henry drew the gummy ninja on the flag. 

Such a cool flag!

We celebrated Henry's half birthday on September 21 at Nana and Pop's. 

 

We sure do enjoy our Friday afternoons with Nana and Pop!

Freyja snuck out the dog door one morning in September. She's done it a few times but never knows what to do when she gets outside. Silly cat! 

If you're wondering how Freyja snuck past our guard dog, Ruby was sound asleep and never even noticed the stealthy kitty.

October is here, but it's still 90 degrees and humid in Houston. We're ready for the first cold front of the season so we can cozy up with hot cider, pumpkin muffins, and fluffy blankets! Until then, we'll be watching October baseball and rooting for our Astros.