Sawyer Visits the Zoo

About a week before Halloween we decided to take Sawyer to the Houston Zoo for the first time.  We went to the Austin Zoo and... it left much to be desired.  Like paved walkways and actually seeing animals.  Unfortunately we didn't realize "Zoo Boo" was going on, so it was pretty crowded, and I felt immense mom-guilt for not putting Sawyer in at least a Halloween t-shirt, but we still had a good time!  Lolly and Pops met us there, too, and I think we all appreciated the extra hands. :)

First stop always - Seals!

He thought the seals were okay but was really, really excited about the balls in the water!

Meerkats!

Mostly, Sawyer just wanted to walk on his own.  Pure Joy!

Checking out the elephants.  I think this might have been Sawyer's favorite animal to see.

Our attempt at a family picture... yep, pretty normal.

We stayed with the cheetahs (leopards? I don't know!) for a while - they were pretty close to us and not too many people were around.  We noticed one poor thing was missing part of its paw!

Lions!  I tried explaining to Sawyer this was Simba... not sure he understood.  Also, I must note our $11 bottle of bug spray, courtesy of Lolly.  The day we went to the zoo also happened to be the first day of a massive influx of mosquitoes in Houston.  You can't even understand how awful they were!  Sawyer didn't get bitten at all, thank goodness, but I got probably 20+ bites just on my heels and feet (since I was wearing jeans).  Yuck!

Hyenas!  Sawyer thinks the hyenas in Lion King are hilarious - these, not so much.

Petting Zoo in the Children's section.  Sawyer was so excited!  He walked up to every single goat and patted each one on the back while saying, "Pat pat." (That's how we gently pat Dixie at home, too.)

Otter!  He was my favorite - so cute!

Then... the highlight of Sawyer's day!  We rode the train around Hermann Park and Sawyer was in heaven.  Next time we can probably skip the zoo and just ride the train 3-5 times.  You can't see it in the pictures, but he was just so excited.

It was fun to finally get out and enjoy Houston!  And thanks to Lolly and Pops getting a membership, I think we'll be going back a lot!