Monkey-ing Around

We had quite the festive fall Saturday! Daddy had a very busy week at work, so it was nice to be able to spend lots of family time together. The weather was PERFECT - highs in the lower 70's without a cloud in the sky. Finally!

Our first stop was Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo. We were supposed to meet up with our playgroup, but we never found anyone. So we enjoyed the zoo as the three of us. It would have been hard to maneuver with the whole group anyhow. Zoo Boo happens on Saturdays in the fall - kids dress up and in addition to normal zoo activities, there is a place to paint baby pumpkins, trick-or-treat booths, coloring stations, "monster dancing" and a few other things. It was really fun to see all the kiddos in their costumes, but my little monkey took that cake for cuteness. I don't think I'm entirely biased either. We got a lot of comments on how adorable he was in his costume! We made sure to take him by the real monkeys, and learned that his hand is about the size of a Lemur. This was our first trip to the Houston zoo; its pretty, and well shaded (very important in the summer), but I've been spoiled by the Columbus zoo and it just doesn't compare. Its a wonderful place to walk around, and I'm sure someday Sam will actually be interested in all of the animals. This time he found the people as interesting as the animals, and even fell asleep in his stroller for a bit. We all had a really nice time!

In the late afternoon/early evening we attended a Pumpkin Carving Party. It was hosted by some friends of ours who have a 2.5-year-old and a 9-month-old, so we always enjoy spending time with them and seeking advice on what's around the corner for us in parenthood. It wasn't a costume party, but I dressed Sam up anyhow so that he could be sure to wear his costume more than once. We never got around to carving our pumpkin, but we had a great time chatting and eating fall-ish party foods. And since we didn't carve the pumpkin, this way it will actually last until Halloween this year!

And of course, it wouldn't have been a fall day without football, so there was some of that thrown in between activities as well!