Trip to Houston

Robert had a last minute business trip to Houston the first part of this week, and the kids and I tagged along with him. I had been wanting to go to Houston this summer anyway because a good friend of mine lives there and she just had a baby. Karen and I have been friends literally all our lives - our birthdays are just a few months apart and our moms were friends when they were pregnant with us. There have been many times we've gone years without seeing each other (it had been four years this time), but we have one of those great friendships that when we do see each other it seems like we haven't been apart.

Karen came to our hotel, brought pizza for lunch, and we visited while my kids swam at the indoor pool. Then we went up to our room and visited some more while the kids watched TV. It was great seeing Karen, and Jake just couldn't be any cuter!


Just a few blocks from the building where Robert was working was Discovery Green Park. One day after dropping him off at work the kids and I visited the park:

On Wednesday after checking out of the hotel, we needed to entertain ourselves for the rest of the day, so we went to the Downtown Aquarium. There was plenty there to keep us busy.

Lots of animals, aquatic and otherwise (we even got to "pet" some stingrays):

There were fountains to splash in (always welcome in Texas in July!):

There was a DJ by the fountains who kept the kids laughing and dancing. They had a dance contest and Camden won! I think it was because the DJ found him the most entertaining, rather than that his dancing was all that impressive.

They also had few rides. One ride was a train that took you through a tunnel aquarium filled with sharks.