All creatures GREAT & small

Following our exciting morning at the Children's Museum, we made a beeline for the Houston Zoo & got a front row parking spot.  The girls were feeling sleepy & I was hoping they might take a little snoozy in the stroller. Eloise was a sweetheart and got a quick nap in while Charlotte did some whining, refused to relax in the stroller but was kept happy with snacks & animals for another 5 hours.

Our last visit to the Houston Zoo was in October and it was FREEZING! See POST. During this visit we  kept saying how great it felt outside compared to last time. It was in the low 80's with a breeze...just perfect for some strollin' around!  I absolutely love a trip to the Zoo to see & now show my girls all the creatures God made, great & small.

We had to take the iconic Houston Zoo photo....

We kind of balanced Eloise on there....she eventually fell off the front but Gaga caught her before she hit the ground. 

Our first stop was to see the elephants. There were two baby elephants that were playing in the water & were adorable. I wish we could have touched them.  I didn't get a great picture of a real one but the fake one posed really well for the picture & we actually got Charlotte to smile for a photo with me....shocking!

We had to make a stop at the carousel.  I mentioned in the last zoo post that Charlotte's first carousel ride was during our visit last fall.  Well, she is now a professional carousel rider after countless trips to Sea World. I don't even stand next to her anymore! She loves it & declared that she wanted to ride a "tiga!" So we found her one to ride & Elo (by default) got the dolphin next to the "tiga." This was Eloise's first time to sit on the animal. She did great even though she looks a little unsure of her surroundings.

Paw Paw , the young at heart was on a duck for this photo but moved around from animal to animal so much that I am surprised he wasn't asked to leave the premises ; ) He also rode on a caterpillar...my personal favorite animal for a full grown man to be riding on. When the ride stopped, I was taking pictures of my Dad on different animals, My mom & Elo had gotten off & I happened to glance over at Charlotte as she fell off the inner circle of the carousel onto the concrete. Oops!

When my dad heard that you could pay $5 for three pieces of lettuce to feed the giraffes, he was quick to grab Char out of the stroller & get in line! I got to walk up with them and snap some pictures. They were beautiful! We got to see the baby that we had a picture of last fall who is no quite a bit larger but still very timid. These on the other hand were not timid. They instructed us to let go of the lettuce as soon as the giraffe started to take it but you know how hard it is for a two year to listen to and follow directions while staring three giant giraffes in the face! She was a little distracted & therefore held onto the lettuce while watching that giant tongue grab it until Paw Paw helped her let go.

  

The petting zoo is always a big hit with Charlotte. She loves this farm out by our house & still talks about how a turkey bit her finger so it was perfect when the first animal we saw was a turkey. It set her off on her spiel about turkeys until we arrived at the goat habitat.  This girl would make a good wife for a farmer someday.  She grabbed a brush for the goats & then walked from goat to goat. She seriously brushed every SINGLE goat there. She also got down on their level to tell them, "Hi, I Tawlott." She also got in front of one that had it's eyes closed & started yelling "Wake up! It not time for yo nap! Wakey wakey!" Hahaha! Maybe she did this because I put her in charge of keeping Eloise awake in the car sometimes so as not to ruin her chances of a good nap upon arrival at home. On our way out, she was about to put the brush back but noticed a goat hiding behind the gate so she had to run over and give him a pat as well.  So great!

Isn't there a movie called "The Men Who Stare at Goats?" We will make this caption "The Girl Who Stares at Goats."

At some point in our afternoon we had a sudden urge for Blue Bell ice cream as if we hadn't eaten any all week ; ) We asked an employee where they had it, we were directed to the front of the park. So we walked a good 15 minutes to get there only to find that the had soft serve only. YUCK! Well it is "yuck" when you have your heart set on Blue Bell. So, we followed the directions back to the African Safari (another good 20 minute walk) & finally came upon our delicious treat.  Char got her own strawberry and sprinkles while mom had mint chocolate chip & I settled on my usual favorite, cookies n' cream.  It was a giant waffle cone with about 4 large scoops. I can taste it's sweetness now as I am writing ; ) We were sitting next to some speakers that had some monkey sounds on it playing periodically. Every time it would come on Char would say "the monkeys try to get my I-keam!" After our treat, Gaga and Charlotte went to a 4-D Dora & Diego show while the three of us sat and listened to the monkeys howl.

When they returned from their show, my mom made the comment that Charlotte didn't really enjoy the 4th dimension, spraying water, jiggling seats etc. She does like Diego ALOT though so she had a good time : )

I took about 20 pictures in a row of these happy grandparents with the girls but still lacked one where both kids were looking at the camera. I am sure it just gets exponentially harder with each little pair of eyes added to the family.

After our trek into Africa, we went back through the Primate exhibit and got to see some activity.  Our favorite was the Orangutan. That's what Gaga & Char are looking at here.

Not sure if he is supposed to have a Dixie cup but he acted like he knew exactly what to do with it : ) 

This area was so pretty, there were lots of birds, turtles & a few bunnies hopping around. Charlotte is really into climbing onto fences & she had one last chance before leaving the Zoo.

Ahhhh, it was such a perfect day! I NEVER make plans to be out with the girls from 8:30am to 6:30pm & was shocked at how well they did with minimal or no naps.  It definitely helped to be 3 on 2! 

The perfect day had a perfect ending too when we stopped to pick up some Tex-Mex fajitas on the way home. YUM! Just for the record, I skipped out on my evening bowl of Blue Bell since I had already eaten about twice that amount for my sweet treat at the Zoo : )