Skyler’s First Zoo Visit & Houston Trip Highlights

Hi there! How has your week been? We’ve been hanging in Houston since Monday, and it’s been so great to catch up with family while we’re here.

Scott has been doing some filming for work, but we’ve been able to dedicate a lot of our stay to spending time with loved ones. It’s been so good for the soul.

Yesterday was a full day of fun! And while I was putting this post together, I realized that I have a lot of pictures from the zoo and hardly any of family. I guess you could say that we did our best to soak it all in and unplug, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

This Friday Favorites round-up is for sharing our trip’s highlights, so here we go!

Friday Faves: Houston Zoo & Trip Highlights

• Houston Zoo

Let’s kick things off with the most eventful day for Skyler (and us!). It was his first trip to a big zoo, along with the first time we really experienced seeing live animals at this nature as a family. Scott has a degree in Zoology (fun fact, right?), so I know this was extra special for him.

It’s worth noting that Skyler is obsessed with learning about all of the animals right now, so we knew that it would be the perfect time for an outing like this one.

He was very overwhelmed at first, but he started opening up and looking to see what was next as we made our way throughout each exhibit. The Houston Zoo is HUGE, by the way.

It’s a 55-acre park and houses over 6,000 animals. Over two million visitors come to the zoo every year, and I found out that it’s the second most visited zoo in the United States as I was researching more about it on our way home!

Skyler was insistent on walking the majority of the day, and it was a lot of excitement all around. I could share twenty or so photos here, so I’m doing my best to narrow it down. I know it’s still a lot. We’ll keep the rest of the highlights speedy, and call it a day, okay?

Here’s a peek into our day!

There was plenty to do and see, from the aquarium and tropical birds to the big cats and primate exhibits. They had shows going on throughout the day, but we really just wandered around on our own schedule and had the best time.

We loved the carousel in the middle of the park, and I was highly impressed with some of the exhibits. They seem like they care deeply for their animals, and we saw a few staff interactions with animals around feeding time before we left.

My favorite part outside of seeing Skyler react to everything (he probably said “oh, cool!” about two dozen times), was the elephant exhibit at the end. We intentionally planned our route to finish there on our way out to the exit, because we knew it would be a favorite for Skyler as well. He made the cutest baby elephant noise when we saw a momma and baby pair eating, and my heart instantly melted.

We spent a good four hours walking the zoo without even realizing it, and finished the day off with soft serve on the way out. We bought tickets to a children’s train ride on our way back to the car (parking is crazy far), and left exhausted, but happy.

It was such a great day!

• time with family and friends

I think it goes without saying that the best part about any trip to these parts is being able to catch up with loved ones. We didn’t have a ton of time until yesterday, so we kept our plans limited and spent the majority of it at my sister-in-law’s house with her family. And that was perfect.

One outing that really warmed our hearts was a trip across town to see Scott’s good friends from college who now live in Houston. We had a great barbecue dinner at their house and talked over wine for hours. We sure do miss them and always appreciate the Southern hospitality!

And of course, the best part of it all is to see everyone interact with Skyler. We don’t live near any family at all in New York, so it’s a real treat to spend family time together when we get it.

• the food

Another thing that we always look forward to on our trips down to Houston is the food! We can always count on great Mexican fare, barbecue, and home cooked meals with the family.

We were treated to a homemade crawfish broil with all the fixings this time around! Everything was so good.

• favorite LIL posts

» Weekend in The Poconos & Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Sharing highlights from our weekend in The Poconos along with stories and lessons we learned from hiking the Appalachian Trail with a toddler. Spoiler alert: come prepared!

» Top 12 Go-To Leg Toning Exercises

Add these exercises into your workouts when you’re looking for a good booty and/or leg burn to complete your circuit! (Exercise descriptions, modifications, and advancements included.)

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It’s been a wonderful week and anything but our normal routine. As hard as it is to say our goodbyes to family, it will be nice to get home to our apartment and fur babies later this afternoon. I’m also hoping to get into the gym, as I did not work out one bit this vacation. But, I truly believe it’s okay to take a break from them from time to time, and you can read more about that conversation here.

Thank you for checking in today, and I’ll be back early next week with a few fun posts on deck. Now it’s time to head out to the airport.

Happy Weekend!