Our Trip to Houston...finally posted

So, it has been awhile since we returned from our trip to Houston; it is only a few weeks away until we become residents of Houston. This is a monster post with many pictures of our adventures there. Unfortunately, Erin has dragged her feet with the post and has put me in charge. Which means, rather than Erin's clever wit, you will have to deal with Bob's incessant rambling for the narrative. Here we go. (PS, some of the pictures are out of order, I don't blog. Thus, deal with it.)

Our first stop in Houston was to the Museum of Natural Science. It was a great museum, primarily because of all the dinosaur bones. Nate's favorite.






Quiz: Anyone know what Malacology is? We do and we have the above picture to prove it!

Our next stop was NASA. It was amazing. Big rockets, big engines, and everyone saying "Houston, we have a problem" the entire tour. Our tour guide told a "great" joke that I thought I would share. They had these huge long horns as part of some ecological project, but our guide told us that they were prepping them to go to space to see if they could actually jump over the moon. Houston, we have a problem with our tour guide!



I must admit it was a bit humbling and awe inspiring to see the size of the rockets that make the trips to outer space. It was quite impressive and I gained a new respect for not only the men and women that created them, but the men and women who were willing to strap themselves to the rockets!
The above picture belongs with the museum pictures. Don't blog, don't care to fix it. They had this huge precious gems exhibit with massive diamonds. Erin was like, "jeez Bob, where are you at?" as she looked at her wedding ring. This gem happens to have a familiar name Kunzite (Kunz is Erin's maiden name...no relation to the gem).

Yep, back to NASA


We also visited the Houston Aquarium. They had this train that you could ride that would take you to a 70,000 gallon tank full of sharks. They had a tube that ran through it and the train would stop and you could look at the 360 world of sharks. Nate loved it. I am sure there is a picture somewhere in this post.


Along with the shark tank, the aquarium had a white tiger exhibit. They had two white tigers and I am pretty sure there is a picture somewhere in this post. Kind of like a Where's Waldo. Good thing I was there to protect Erin from this tiger.

The above picture is of Nate and the massive Houston Zoo. They had a tube that ran through their fish tank. Nate is in the orange shirt and I am pretty sure those are piranhas in the tank.

Okay, these pictures are back on our tour at NASA


The above picture is the actual mission control room for all space missions. They did not have any missions currently going, so they let us actually see the room. It was pretty cool. It was the real place of "Houston we have a problem" (I think that was the third time I typed that)



While at NASA, they had this huge exhibit on the movie magic of George Lucas. I am pretty sure that those are the real R2D2 and C3PO.

My dad tried to steal the Indiana Jones clothes. He was actually caught and escorted out. He almost made it out with the fedora before two buff guys tackled him (just kidding).


They had a big obstacle course that Nate could run through. Not sure how Erin got in, she is not under 3 feet tall.
So, on a completely dorky side note, they had a flight simulator at NASA that you could simulate trying to land a plane after re-entry. My dad tried the simulator and he crashed and burned. I on the other hand, on expert difficulty, effortlessly landed the plane and set the high score for the day at NASA. They gave me a card and said that if I ever quite my day jog, give them a call. Erin was so proud.

We, luckily, found the Houston temple (it is not really in Houston). It is a beautiful temple and we enjoyed walking around the grounds. I say luckily because my GPS did not know the difference between a temple and a Kroger grocery store. We were a bit confused.



See, this is part of the train and the shark tank....from what I talked about in previous pictures.

This is a picture of Downtown from the ferris wheel that will be mentioned in the next commentary. There were actually guys cleaning the windows in that middle building....made completely of windows. Wow, what a great job.

Story here. I hate heights. Especially when I am not securely fastened into the vehicle that is taking me so high. They convinced me to ride this massive ferris wheel at the aquarium. I was not happy, especially when the comedic duo of Erin and my dad thought it was funny to make the dangling thing we were riding in sway at the peak of the wheel. Curse words.

Got to love taking kids on kids rides. My philosophy, make the most of the situation and pose in as many pictures as possible. My question is, what is the sea lion I am riding looking at?


Pretty sure this was the real Nemo and Dori. Nate thought so at least.


They had a petting tank where you could touch fish. Nate drank some of the water...perhaps this is what led up to the big gross story!

Yep, me being a dork, Nate in the posing in the underwater suit, and Erin fleeing the scene because I have embarrased her. Pretty typical Ross family moment.

White tigers. Not sure who the people are in the above picture. I like to take pictures of random strangers.
This is a sleeping white tiger. See I told you there would be a picture of one. I am sure that you went through this post thinking "That Bob is a freaking liar!"

Um...blurry blue picture. I think this is the shark tank.


Again with the fun rides. This ride was extra fun because there was no line so the chipper man with a ciggarette decided to let us ride an extra long time. Let me tell you, extra fun!

Some pictures from the Houston zoo.


Nate riding the statue of a giant tortoise. Nate is looking forward to Fezzik getting this big.
Cool thing, they had an albino allagator. It did not move much, but we are pretty sure it was real.


We were doing our Fezzik impersonation. The gross thing about this was I was the first to get in the shell and I am actually on my arms, not letting my body touch the ground because someone had spit, at least I think it was spit, all over the inside of the shell. I get out of the shell and what does Nate do. Follows me in and lays down. That is my boy! At least it made a cute picture.

These pictures are from the prarie dog exhibit. You could go up in these tubes and be a part of their world...inside a tube. Great pictures none the less. My mom wussed out and did not get in her tube.

So, this concludes the picture look at our trip to Houston. Hopefully you made it through this post; hopefully this post gave you desires to come visit us in Houston. We loved our visit to Houston and we are grateful that we got to share the experience with my parents. We are really excited to move there and call it our home (we still don't know how we feel about being Texans. Can we live in Houston without being considered Texans?)

I know this blog was a bit out of order and confusing...kind of like trying to navigate the Houston freeways when our GPS got left and right confused. Feel free to let Erin know what you thought of the post and how much you want her back!