After we got to his house we went out for dinner. He took us to Iguana Joe's, which is a Tex-Mex restaurant, in Atascocita. I had stuffed avocado which was enormous and delicious. It's an avocado stuffed with shredded chicken, battered and fried. It was served with refried beans and rice. There was enough left over that Grandad and I had the leftovers for dinner the next night.
Saturday was rainy and cool so we had to do something indoors. We chose to go the the Cockrell Butterfly Center. This butterfly pavilion is one of my favorite places on earth. It is located at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, but admission to the butterfly center is separate. It was crowded on Saturday, but not uncomfortably so.
The entrance to the butterfly center is the Brown Hall of Entomology which has a lot of interactive exhibits designed for kids. The photo on the bottom left in the collage above is picture of pink katydids which are part of that exhibit. They look like flowers. They are behind glass and the glass was damp and foggy so it's not a very good picture. They were so beautiful. You can also watch butterflies emerging from chrysalis and flapping their wings to dry ... very interesting for the little ones.
Right inside the door is a photo op with a giant caterpillar where you can pose for a picture. The lighting in this hall makes it look like everyone has red hair. Some of us do actually have red hair, but not all of us.
The butterfly center is a three-story glass pavilion built around a central waterfall. If you go, dress in layers. It's very warm and humid inside which made me happy since I'm always cold. But everyone didn't agree with me.
It was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon. As you can see, Our Little Princess was able to get a very close look at the butterflies. Even Grandad got in on the fun when a butterfly hitched a ride on his cap. You have to look closely at the button on top of the cap. Once he landed there, he stayed the entire time. We had to shoo him away before we could leave the exhibit.
Next stop was Katz's Deli and Bar on Westheimer, one of our favorite places to eat in Houston and only a short distance from the museum district. Katz's is a New York style deli with delicious food and beverages. Several of us enjoyed their Holy Mary which is a large Bloody Mary made with Absolut Peppar Vodka. Delicious!
After our late lunch, we headed back to Nick's house where Katy, Travis, and Nick headed out for a night at the movies and Grams and Grandad settled in for an evening with the grands.
It's hard to believe how much the girls have grown since we last saw them New Year's Day. Her Highness has three teeth now and she smiles all the time. Our Little Princess is getting taller and taller. They both enjoyed playing with Uncle Nick's dogs, Baily and Ralphie. Her Highness and Baily are very good friends. We had to watch them constantly or they were licking and kissing each other all the time. It's a good thing Baily is such a little mama dog. She is completely tolerant of the baby pulling her ears or leaning on her or whatever. She would even stand still and let Her Highness grab hold of her fur and pull herself to a standing position.
The main point of the weekend was for Katy and Travis to get some rest. Unfortunately, Her Highness didn't sleep well away from home. Katy was up until three o'clock with her both nights. Next time, Grams and Grandad will go to their house to stay with the girls so they can go away for a weekend and get some sleep.
I'm enjoying a day off today. I've put a pork butt in the crock pot, using the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. I'll let you know how it is later. I've also cleaned my oven, by which I mean that I turned on the self-cleaning feature and ignored it all morning ... so much better than the old way with the stinky foam. I'll be spending the remainder of the day sewing for my Etsy shop. After today, I'm working the rest of the week.
