Houston Part 1

We left for Houston last Thursday, early, early in the morning.  After an early wakeup call, we were nervous about how Parker would do on the plane.  I am very thankful to say that she did excellent!  We flew with her as a lap baby and gate-checked her carseat.  (We were somewhat hopeful there would be an extra seat that we could put her in, but both flights were full and overflowing!)  We let her down to walk and play in front of us until we were made to pick her up to taxi and take off.  She gripped my arms pretty tightly at take-off but never once whimpered.  We had snacks on hand, but she preferred the pretzels from the flight attendant.  We also had a sucker on board (hence the stains on her outfit below).  

I bought her several new books, and we downloaded a Mickey Mouse episode to the i-pad as back up. We did not plan the trip during nap, because I knew that she would not sleep in my lap.  She sat in my lap the whole flight (about an hour and a half) and read books and snacked.  We did pull out the i-pad for the last 20 minutes before descent.  Once on the ground, we got the stroller and car seat and headed to Uncle Jager's house.

Once Jager got off work, we headed to the Kemah Boardwalk.  It was a really neat place.  We ate at the Saltgrass Steakhouse, which was great, then went to walk around the Boardwalk.  They had several "child" rides, but we decided to take Parker on the train.  It proved to be a great decision because she LOVED it!  

After the train ride, we put on pajamas and loaded up, knowing she would fall asleep on the ride back to the house after such a long day (with a short nap!).  

Jager had to work Friday morning, so we decided to head into Houston.  He had taken mom to Rice Village a few years ago when she visited, so we decided to try it again.  Drew loved driving through Houston and seeing downtown.  We passed Minute Maid Park on the way in, drove by downtown and also by Rice University.  After lunch and a little exploration, we drove through the Medical district and dropped mom off to visit with Jena and Buddy Phillips.  Parker had fallen asleep at this point, so Drew and I continued exploring Houston and let her nap!  We found the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium and drove by the outside of the Houston Zoo as well.  

playing with Me-Merri's bracelets in the car

Once we got back to Jager's house, Drew and Parker played with his dog, Elli.  Parker did well with Elli, considering her size.  She loved throwing her the ball (as she does with Bentley!)

Drew and Jager went back into Houston Friday night to go watch the Astros play the Pirates.  Drew really enjoyed going to "The Juice Box" (as it is known by the locals) and seeing another MLB park.