By the Way: Happy Birthday Times Three!

Junior wishes

Happy Birthday to Cecilia, Will and Steve (the Dad)!

On a cloudy, breezy, almost-warm spring Sunday--April 3rd, 2011, I took the fam on a "secret destination" party to celebrate Cecilia, Will, and Steve. Weeks before, I started hinting and teasing, just to keep Steve guessing. Twenty Questions at the dinner table tried to get me to crack, but I didn't. What can you do to celebrate the birthdays of two 30-somethings and a 64 year-old? (We rounded down on the signage in the picture above!)

Steve Jr. and I pulled together a day trip to the Houston Zoo, complete with a picnic lunch. It started with an 11 am phone call to Will--taking a Starbucks order to be delivered at noon. So with Lattes and Tazo tea and banana walnut bread in hand, Steve Sr. and I picked up W & C, and off we went. Jr. would meet us there.

The weather was totally overcast, thankfully, with mild temps and a nice breeze when we started circling Hermann Park for a place to park. Evidently lots of other folks had the same idea on this Spring Sunday. We finally found a spot for Steve to park and cool off his frazzled traffic nerves. While Will and Cecilia packed in their own birthday picnic lunch, we all made our way to the Zoo entrance. We were so far away that we had to follow the Zoo Train tracks.

Where are we going?

If you don't give me the basket, I'll let you have it!

Resting from the trek at the Zoo entrance, the party peeps waited for Jr. to join us while I got the tickets and rented a wagon for the goodies. Good idea, huh?!

Dress code: STRIPES

at least Steve Sr., Cecilia, and Steve Jr. got the memo!

How long had it been since I took the guys to the Zoo? We used to go a lot when they were little and we lived not too far away. Steve Jr. got his picture in the Chronicle one year, petting a turtle. We had a birthday party there for Jr. when he was 5 and Will was on the way. (Hard to squeeze in the seat of the miniature Zoo Train when you're pregnant!) The Houston Zoo holds lots of good memories. Ducks to feed. Monkeys to laugh at and dodge their spitting antics. Goats to pet in the Children's Zoo. Twenty-five-plus years ago we passed lots of wonderful hours there in strollers and wagons. Now the beautiful Live Oaks are 25 years taller and stand overhead in giant canopies. Landmarks like the reflecting pond and Reptile House are still in place, as well as the Tropical Bird House.

Cecilia speaks to a Brazilian bird

Cecilia's mom suggested she speak Portuguese to the birds whose cousins live in her back yard in Brazil. She says they will remember their native language--and they did! I wanted C to feel at home, and so we stepped inside the Tropical Bird House. There's a rain forest with free flying birds.

We were looking up for several reasons . . . !

Steve with the Birthday Lunch wagon

See the cupcake box? Pretty brown satin ribbon!

After our visit with the birds, we headed to Cypress Circle on Duck Lake in the middle of the Zoo. There we claimed a table and spread out the lunch.

A jug of tea, a loaf of bread, and thou, O Babe!

Breads, cheeses, salami with herbes de Provence, cold shrimp (marinated in lime juice, garlic and parsley), fruits and green tea.

Delightful!

Plus lots of conversation from all five of us. In the inevitable "survey" that follows every family event, "lunch" was the answer given most for "the favorite thing about today." Then there were the birthday cupcakes. We tried to light candles--6 for Steve, 3 for Cecilia and 3 for Will--but that was the only time the breeze was not our friend. So we just dove in.

all that was left of a dozen mini cupcakes and eight truffles . . .

Cupcakes were from a place in Rice Village, Celebrity Cupcakes on University @ Morningside. Yumm. The pink--organic strawberry with strawberry butter cream; the green--chocolate with vanilla butter cream (Steve's favorite); the chocolate goodies--Cecilia's truffle recipe of Gihardelli chocolate and condensed milk!

After packing the wagon, we headed for the monkeys, by way of a pit stop.

when nature calls . . .

The Primate Exhibit was so nice. The monkeys that used to sit in concrete and iron-barred cell blocks are now free to roam in wire-netted enclosures filled with real dirt, grasses, and trees of all kinds. Steve (the Dad) remembered decades ago that one chimp would fill his mouth with water from the little fountain in his cage, run round and round, and then jump on the bars to spit water on whoever was standing close enough. Wonder if he retired before the new exhibit was opened?

These two looked like they were sitting on a dock fishing with cane poles!

Once again, Cecilia and Will found monkeys that originate in Brazil, and spoke Portuguese to them.

After communing with the Chimpanzee baby and the huge Orangutan, Steve Jr. had to leave for his class.

Hugs all 'round and then we headed for Africa to see the giraffes. Elephants were on the way.

It was funny to see the two babies playing, wrestling and tickling.

The Giraffe baby still hadn't lost its umbilical cord

and mama was pretty proud.

How the baby survived delivery, I don't know. Mama gives birth standing! A 7 foot drop is my idea of a rude awakening.

Daddy 'raffe likes the hay, Mama's going for the hand-fed lettuce.

Though it's an expensive salad ($3), you can buy lettuce and stand on that platform to feed the tall guys.

Will, one of the Birthday Boys

There's a beautiful carrousel at the entrance to the Children's Zoo now. Did I get a picture--no. *sigh*

We vowed that we would come back and ride it another time. (Isn't it interesting how you feel like you need a little kid with you in order to do some things that you really want to do? Whether it was my awkwardness or Cecilia's warning that she gets dizzy on those things, we passed by and got right in to some close encounters of the furry kind.

Rocky Raccoon was taking a nap

Baldy gave me the eagle eye

We saw prairie dogs, pelicans, llama, zebu; Will loved the swimming antics of the otters as he watched them through that plexiglass that allows an underwater cross section view. Then we dove into the goats enclosure.

Cecilia's straw purse was a goat magnet!

Once we entered, Will, Cecilia and I all found a critter to pet. Then the first goat found C's purse.

Will watches as goat # 1 goes in for the purse

Now two start rubbing their horns on the straw bag

Cecilia's purse was 'catnip' for all the goats

One little girl told her daddy that the goats were rubbing "that old lady's purse".

I'm explaining to my new little friend in the pretty spring dress what the crazy goat is doing.

Meanwhile . . .

Will, the Goat Whisperer

Will + Goats + Cecilia's Straw Bag = An Audience

It's obvious from all the goat shots that we had lots of fun there. We visited the hand-washing station right outside the goat enclosure on our way out.

Will needed a shower! But we decided to move on before all the little children got scared :~D

It was getting late, and the wagon needed to be returned by 6 pm for a small refund. Plus the legs and hips of "that old lady" were starting to bark like the prairie dogs, so Steve & I took off for the entrance while Cecilia and Will took in some big cats first.

We had such a good day. Thank you, Houston Zoo!

What's a birthday without presents? When we got back to our car, we tailgated so the birthday celebrants could open their gifts. Cecilia got a windchime, Will got a gift card for cooking classes at Central Market, and Steve got a plaid flannel shirt plus a serenading card.