Houston visit: zoo, train, NASA, park

We tagged along with Daddy for a trip to Houston to see the ForeFlight guys, and were lucky to get to spend lots of time with folks we like doing fun things!  We left on Saturday and took Ev's third and Gr's first ride on a commercial flight.  We got in in the evening, and Tyson, Misty and Wyatt had us over for a casual dinner and some playtime.  The boys (and I!) liked meeting Wyatt and Addie (the soft pup).

On Sunday morning, we started off at the insect and butterfly exhibit at the science museum.  Then Adam, Stephanie and Cate arrived and we went to the zoo to check out some animals.  The giraffes were Ev and Gr's favorites.

Gr, inexplicably, liked the monstrous hissing cockroaches.  Yuck!

 

Wyatt's an old pro at the butterfly enclosure.

 Ev was excited about, oh, everything.

 There was a staircase down to a little pool under a waterfall.  Ev made probably twenty trips up and down, making sure everyone got to see it.

 The little scientist at work.

 

 The giraffe was chasing an ostrich.  Two awkward animals!

 

Drumming on a drum!

 Cate and Stephanie got in on the action!

 And Tyson, Misty and Wyatt, too!

 No, no rivalry here...

 

Naturally the carousel was a magnet...

 Grady wasn't so sure about it, and only lasted maybe one revolution before asking me to hold him.  Wyatt had a good time (and Tyson, too, by the looks of it).

 Cate had fun, but that's not saying much about the carousel...  Cate seems to have fun no matter what!

After a sojourn for lunch, we returned to Hermann Park to ride the train.  It makes a loop around the greenspace, with several playgrounds and stations along the way.

Daddies and babies...

 Yep, that's Ev's cheese-face, and just pre-cheese for Gr...

 No, Cate, don't eat the wipes!

 

We attempted a group photo of the kids...  Tyson and Stephanie are laying behind the littlest ones, holding them in place :)

After the busy day, we headed back to the hotel to reset for a bit and restock Ev's lunchbag before rejoining the Weihs family at their home for dinner again.

Monday had a very cool trip to Space Center Houston, the NASA site.  We toured the grounds, saw the training mockups of the space station and the shuttle (being dismantled), saw the mission control center for the shuttle missions, explored the enormous Saturn V rocket, touched a moon rock, and of course played on the space playset.

 

As much as I'd like to launch you into space on a rocket sometimes, boys, please stay on this side of the rail :)

 This rocket is indescribably impressive in real life.  It was actually in space, too!  Not just a model.  Crazy.

 See little big man down there?  That tiny little white-shirted guy.

 

Thrusters?  Huge.

 

He could totally fly that shuttle.

 

After we heard there was a moon rock we could touch, Grady was a broken record -- "Touch moon?  Touch moon?"  He couldn't wait!  (Must admit, it was a bit of a let-down, but he didn't ask again after we touched it...)

 The ones behind the glass were what we had in mind for touching!  But alas...

 My three guys fit in the Apollo command module.

And they landed the space shuttle.  No biggie.

 

Okay, playtime!

 Wyatt and Grady played near each other, sometimes appearing to cooperate.  Wyatt would stuff the balls in the chute, and Grady would smack the button to suck them into the tubes that carried them to the upper levels.

 Not all balls were easily relinquished.

 Hmmm, wonder what this intense discussion was about...

 The tubes spit the balls out at these launchers where Ev and Jas would fire them back down.

 Grady got a shirtful!  And it was hilarious for him and for us.

Monday evening, Adam and Matt (from ForeFlight) joined us at the Weihs home for burgers and chatting.  While the menfolk were getting dinner ready, we took the children to the park for some energy expenditure.

(Second installment tomorrow...)