So, I guess I should finally start posting some pictures of our trip to Texas. There are many because we stayed pretty busy, so I think I'll split them into a few posts.
Witte Museum
The day we arrived, we went to the Witte Museum. There were a lot of dinosaurs and a neat children's discovery area (though it was super crowded). It would have been a lot more fun, but there were also a lot of tired children (well, mainly mine). I only grabbed one pic while we were there...Carter and I in front of a dinosaur skeleton.
After we left the Witte, we decided to head somewhere a little more hands-on for all the kids...an inflatable playground, or as Carter's cousin Annie called it: "jumpolines."
This place was really neat...I think the same concept exists in Utah county too (Kangaroo Zoo I think it's called). Big rooms full of inflatable castles, slides, carousels, basketball hoops, shark mouths, and more. Grace, Annie, and Abby all had a blast jumping and falling and running into the sides. Carter, however, was scared of it all. He went into the Finding Nemo one for a few minutes with Marissa, but wouldn't jump and came out looking terrified. Chris tried to get him into a few more-but Carter would rather just look inside. There were little mats outside the entrance to each "castle" that Carter preferred to "jump" on...I think he thought we were fooled that it was a jumpoline castle too...and he that he really WAS brave.
Inflatable Playground
Here's Carter with Aunt Marissa...terrifed face and he hurries out of the shark's mouth.
Spiderman slide...thanks Marissa for going down with him
Annie and Abby loved falling over in the shark's mouth
Carter loved playing basketball with Grandpa...thanks Grandpa!
Carter enjoyed hanging out with Uncle Chris who just returned from his mission to Brazil
Mom and Krista were so patient to sit and stay with the babies. Katy was only a week old!
Our next stomping ground was the Wildlife Ranch. This place was way better than the zoo in my opinion. You get to see all kinds of animals up close (their heads in your car up close) all while staying in the comfort of your air conditioned car.
Wildlife Ranch...African Safari, Texas Style
Grandma, Taylee, Carter, Marissa, and I standing near the petting zoo area of the ranch. Grandma held Taylee the whole time so I could go through twice in the car with Carter.
Our first time driving through the park, Carter, Taylee, and I rode with Grandpa and Marissa. Our second time was with Caleb and Sara...they were much were daring (which scared Carter and I)
As you drive through the Ranch, you pass through 5 different preserves (each inhabited by animals typical to that area)
There were all sorts of deer in the different preserves. I didn't catch most their names, but here are some pics. They were really friendly and not too scary to feed.
We had 4 cars with us: Uncle Chris drove the first one with Emily and Ashley Partridge; Janessa and Craig, their girls and Annie were in another; Grandma, Sara, and Caleb were in the third, and then Grandpa, Marissa, and my kids and I in the last. Here's Chris feeding some deer.
The ostriches and emus were probably the scariest animals of the Ranch. They would stick their heads all the way in the car and peck at you with their pointy beaks for food. Caleb set up a row of food bites along the windowsill of the car so it wouldn't stick it's head all the way in. It was amazing how rhythmically the emu grabbed each little bite. Sara reached over to feed it with her hand, got scared, and dropped the food in Caleb's lap. It was all fun for Caleb when the Emu went for the food on his lap.
These longhorns were pretty neat. They had super long tongues as you can see. Sara fed this one..and then it wouldn't go away. It kept sticking out it's long leathery tongue for more. It licked Sara on the arm and she screamed because of the texture...Carter is now terrified of cows.
When the buffalo came along, I decided I was brave enough to feed them. Carter had seen buffalo before in Yellowstone National Park, but he'd never been this close. He was really excited about them...until they got close enough to eat the food out of my hand and I started screaming...that mouth was way too big for my taste, thank you. Carter is now also scared of buffalo.
These llamas were really chill. They'd come right to your window and calmly eat out of your hand. I, however, was still scared from the buffalo and let everyone else do the feeding. Carter, by this point was saying: "Animals...scary" over and over. What have I done to my poor son?
When we got to the zebras, Carter was excited again because he loves to read about zebras in books. He was very content to just watch them eat from Janessa and Craig's car ahead of us. When they started getting close to our car, he looked worried. When one stuck it's head in to eat out of Sara's hand (keep in mind, Carter was sitting on Sara's lap), he just plain panicked. Now he's not fond of zebras either.
This zebra got a little out of control. When we didn't have any more food to give it, it went for Grandpa's shoulder...he has battle wounds to show it. A nice toothmark bruise.
The rhinos, thank goodness, were not allowed to roam freely around the cars. This is as close as I wanted to get anyway.
The last animal we saw was a giraffe. This one was also kept fenced in. They were so beautiful to watch. Once again, Carter kept his distance. He wasn't so sure about animals anymore.
If any of you are ever in the San Antonio area, you should definitely check out the Wildlife Ranch...it was so much fun!
After we left the Witte, we decided to head somewhere a little more hands-on for all the kids...an inflatable playground, or as Carter's cousin Annie called it: "jumpolines."
This place was really neat...I think the same concept exists in Utah county too (Kangaroo Zoo I think it's called). Big rooms full of inflatable castles, slides, carousels, basketball hoops, shark mouths, and more. Grace, Annie, and Abby all had a blast jumping and falling and running into the sides. Carter, however, was scared of it all. He went into the Finding Nemo one for a few minutes with Marissa, but wouldn't jump and came out looking terrified. Chris tried to get him into a few more-but Carter would rather just look inside. There were little mats outside the entrance to each "castle" that Carter preferred to "jump" on...I think he thought we were fooled that it was a jumpoline castle too...and he that he really WAS brave.
Inflatable Playground
Here's Carter with Aunt Marissa...terrifed face and he hurries out of the shark's mouth.
Spiderman slide...thanks Marissa for going down with him
Annie and Abby loved falling over in the shark's mouth
Carter loved playing basketball with Grandpa...thanks Grandpa!
Carter enjoyed hanging out with Uncle Chris who just returned from his mission to Brazil
Mom and Krista were so patient to sit and stay with the babies. Katy was only a week old!
Our next stomping ground was the Wildlife Ranch. This place was way better than the zoo in my opinion. You get to see all kinds of animals up close (their heads in your car up close) all while staying in the comfort of your air conditioned car.
Wildlife Ranch...African Safari, Texas Style
Grandma, Taylee, Carter, Marissa, and I standing near the petting zoo area of the ranch. Grandma held Taylee the whole time so I could go through twice in the car with Carter.
Our first time driving through the park, Carter, Taylee, and I rode with Grandpa and Marissa. Our second time was with Caleb and Sara...they were much were daring (which scared Carter and I)
As you drive through the Ranch, you pass through 5 different preserves (each inhabited by animals typical to that area)
There were all sorts of deer in the different preserves. I didn't catch most their names, but here are some pics. They were really friendly and not too scary to feed.
We had 4 cars with us: Uncle Chris drove the first one with Emily and Ashley Partridge; Janessa and Craig, their girls and Annie were in another; Grandma, Sara, and Caleb were in the third, and then Grandpa, Marissa, and my kids and I in the last. Here's Chris feeding some deer.
The ostriches and emus were probably the scariest animals of the Ranch. They would stick their heads all the way in the car and peck at you with their pointy beaks for food. Caleb set up a row of food bites along the windowsill of the car so it wouldn't stick it's head all the way in. It was amazing how rhythmically the emu grabbed each little bite. Sara reached over to feed it with her hand, got scared, and dropped the food in Caleb's lap. It was all fun for Caleb when the Emu went for the food on his lap.
These longhorns were pretty neat. They had super long tongues as you can see. Sara fed this one..and then it wouldn't go away. It kept sticking out it's long leathery tongue for more. It licked Sara on the arm and she screamed because of the texture...Carter is now terrified of cows.
When the buffalo came along, I decided I was brave enough to feed them. Carter had seen buffalo before in Yellowstone National Park, but he'd never been this close. He was really excited about them...until they got close enough to eat the food out of my hand and I started screaming...that mouth was way too big for my taste, thank you. Carter is now also scared of buffalo.
These llamas were really chill. They'd come right to your window and calmly eat out of your hand. I, however, was still scared from the buffalo and let everyone else do the feeding. Carter, by this point was saying: "Animals...scary" over and over. What have I done to my poor son?
When we got to the zebras, Carter was excited again because he loves to read about zebras in books. He was very content to just watch them eat from Janessa and Craig's car ahead of us. When they started getting close to our car, he looked worried. When one stuck it's head in to eat out of Sara's hand (keep in mind, Carter was sitting on Sara's lap), he just plain panicked. Now he's not fond of zebras either.
This zebra got a little out of control. When we didn't have any more food to give it, it went for Grandpa's shoulder...he has battle wounds to show it. A nice toothmark bruise.
The rhinos, thank goodness, were not allowed to roam freely around the cars. This is as close as I wanted to get anyway.
The last animal we saw was a giraffe. This one was also kept fenced in. They were so beautiful to watch. Once again, Carter kept his distance. He wasn't so sure about animals anymore.
If any of you are ever in the San Antonio area, you should definitely check out the Wildlife Ranch...it was so much fun!
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