Moody Gardens

Just before school started, our family took advantage of Daddy's Fridays off and spent a day together at Moody Gardens in Galveston. We had bought an annual membership there at the beginning of the summer and wanted to visit one more time while the Palm Beach water park was still open. We had a great visit! It certainly helped that, unlike our last visit in June, all of our kids were healthy this time! We tried to hit up all of the attractions that we hadn't yet seen. So, first we visited the Rainforest Pyramid. 

We loved the wide variety of colorful, exotic animals that we saw!

Adley was thrilled to see all the animals. She would point emphatically at them and often try to imitate their sounds.

We visited at a good time because we got to see two feeding times! The second lady came out and blew a whistle to signal to the birds that it was mealtime. Our kids loved seeing the birds from an extra close-up view.

Because the whole rainforest was enclosed in a large pyramid, there were few enclosures and only short walls. It was fun to have birds fly directly over our heads at times. We could really feel like we were a part of the rainforest!

The beginning and end of the rainforest had these rope-like vines hanging from the doorways. Jaden and Cody probably passed through the ropes at least 20 times. They both said this was their favorite part of the rainforest visit. Ha!

After our rainforest tour, we ate our sack lunch and then took a ride on the Colonel Paddlewheel Boat.

The boat is a replica of a true 1800s-era paddlewheel boat. Thankfully, they included the modern-day convenience of air conditioning!

The "cruise" was about 45-minutes long. We spent our time walking through the gift shop, viewing the sights of Galveston Bay....

exploring every inch of the boat (including getting a close-up look at the paddlewheel),

and eating some fun treats! We had been hoping to eat our lunch on the boat, but guests are not allowed to bring any of their own food or drink on the cruise, unfortunately. Our kids loved the chance to eat ice cream and shakes instead!

We spent the rest of our visit at the Palm Beach water park. It was easy to spend several hours here, and by this point of the day, we were all ready to cool off.

Jaden and Cody especially liked the lazy river and the wave pool (pictured below).

I didn't get pictures of Jaden and Cody going down the larger waterslides (which they loved!), but I did get a few shots of them enjoying the smaller slides in the section for younger kids.

These slides are designed so that parents can go with their little ones, so both Mommy and Daddy got to slide with Adley. She wanted to go over and over again!

After leaving Moody Gardens, we made one more stop in Galveston before heading home-- visiting the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Not the best food in the world, but definitely a memorable experience for the kids. :)

What a great end-of-summer hurrah! :)