Our trip to the Houston Zoo

After not being able to leave town at all during our vacation and time off work, we decided we still needed to do something fun and different. So, Friday afternoon, once Ryleigh was starting to feel a little bit better, we headed down to go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. But, once we got down there, we noticed signs for the Zoo, and got super excited to go to the Zoo instead. The day was perfect. The sun was out and warm, and there were not too many people visiting the Zoo. We had a GREAT time, hanging out, looking at all the different animals, and just spending time together outside of our house.

Daddy showing Ryleigh all the fish
Checking out the turkey-like birds...Ryleigh actually watched these ones walk around in there.
They had a baby elephant! See in between the two big elephants? It was pretty shy, but so stinkin' cute! It looked so tiny next to the others, but in reality is still so big. Perspective is everything, huh?
The giraffes were a lot of fun...and so tall! Ryleigh has a toy giraffe, and I wanted her to grasp the concept that these were the same as her toy, but I guess she is still too young for that. There was a baby giraffe as well, but I couldn't get a clear picture of it.
Yikes, the Tigers were sleeping...sure wouldn't want to be on the inside of that glass!

Daddy and Ryleigh
It's Simba!! :) The lions were so pretty, even the females (Nala!)
There were longhorn-type animals, which of course we did not care for. :)
Ryleigh had an afternoon bottle and was happy as can be, sitting outside, looking at all the animals.
Jesse was front row in front of the baboon cage, and this guy stared him down! At one point the baboon even flinched at him in an attempt to scare Jesse. We did not get a picture of his butt, but it is by-far the prettiest, most colorful butt I have ever seen!

The orangutan's were my favorite. This little baby was putting on quite a show for everyone, rolling around, "falling" off the rock, and trying to grab his mom to come 'play.' It was hysterical!
Pretty zebra, who was obviously shy, because it would not come near the fence!
They had 2 baby cheetahs (or leopards?) walking around on leashes! The trainer said they were about 12 weeks old, and were sooo cute!
And last, the seals made for a fun ending to a fun day. They swam around and jumped up on the platform, only to slide back down again. Ryleigh got a kick out of watching them go back and forth across the tank.
Like I said, we really had a great time. Jesse and I had more fun than Ryleigh, but give her a couple more years, and I know she will love the Zoo. What a fun afternoon!