Tourist Saturday

This past Saturday, as our family and friends back in Virginia were being blasted with the "storm of the century", we were actually blessed with a beautiful day in Houston. After days of rain and dreary weather we were just itching to get out and enjoy the sunshine. So I jumped on the internet and found some fun touristy things for us to do with our day. Since we've lived in Texas we've taken quite a few trips out to our favorite part of Texas, the hill country, but we have really not taken the opportunity to explore our home city of Houston except for an occasional baseball game or visit to the HUGE mall downtown :)

So we started our day off with a quick run around the local go cart track down the street from our house and then hit the highway to head up to Houston. Our first stop was the famous "road-trip stop" The Beer Can House. The Beer Can House is referred to as visionary art but I think back in 1968 when John Milkovisch started siding his house with the aluminum from his favorite beer cans, he was just looking for something to do rather than actually make a statement. The story behind The Beer Can House can be found here http://www.beercanhouse.org/

After leaving The Beer Can House we headed over to the Downtown Aquarium where we saw a bunch of fish, reptiles, and owl, a white tiger, and rode the ferris wheel!

Our tourist day wrapped up with dinner at the ultimate touristy restaurant....The Houston Hard Rock Cafe! :)

It's Christmas time!

It's officially Christmas time in the Zuger household. We pulled out our decorations this weekend and put them up. It's kind of overwhelming to realize that they are going to be coming down again in less than three weeks since we'll be leaving for Virginia until after the New Year and I hate the idea of everything sitting out and getting dusty while we're gone. Regardless we're going to enjoy the decorations while they are up!!

Here is our tree

Is this not the cutest little ornament ever!?!

Christmas '09!

We got a new (to us) vehicle!

Finally!! Anyone who knows us well...wasn't that surprised when we announced that Sim's car had died. Sim had graciously been driving his 91 Accord through two Texas summers without air conditioning as well as over two years of not having a working spedometer (with no tickets....surprisingly). So when his bucket...finally kicked the bucket we were a little scared of the big decision that lay ahead. Luckily after just two weeks of searching we found our newest family member! :) Here she is!

We feel truly blessed for Sim to now be able to drive a vehicle that actually fits him! He has wanted a Tahoe since he was in high school working at Lindsay Chevrolet in Woodbridge so this is really a dream come true! :)

Zoofari with the Coast Guard Wives

Last weekend I was invited to go to the Bayou Wildlife Park with the wives from the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless. The wildlife park is literally just a few minutes down the street from our house but I had never been. It was seriously the best time ever and I can't wait to go back!

As soon as we pulled up to the gate Sabrina's car was surrounded by an ostrich and llamas hungry for food! In fact it was almost difficult to drive into the park as the animals swarmed her van.

We all gathered and had a picnic lunch while the kids ran around and eventually discovered the petting zoo. This place just kept getting better!

It wasn't long before we boarded the tram to take us through the rest of the park to see all of the animals. I could not get over how cool it was to be able to pet the animals as they came up to the tram to eat right out of the buckets with food that we had been given. There were all different kinds of animals and the tram weaved through the entire 80 acres.

As our ride was wrapping up we all heard the sound of a helicopter overhead and looked up to see the Coast Guard helicopter heading out of Ellington Air Field. Yay Coast Guard!

Honoring our Veterans

Last week we celebrated Veterans Day with a day off! Well sort of...we were both off work which was welcomed with as busy as Sim has been at work! We were blessed with a GORGEOUS day with temperatures in the 70's. We started off the afternoon by checking out a local vineyard not far from our house that we have been wanting to try. Now you have to remember that we live in TEXAS and more importantly Southeast Texas, where it is hot and humid most of the year. Not really the best grape growing weather but we were excited to check this places out and see what it was all about. Haak vineyard is a family owned and operating winery and small vineyard. We arrived on a day they were bottling wine so unfortunately we were unable to go in the back for a tour of their wine cellar but on a postive note we were able to watch the bottling process through a window in the wine shop into the bottling room. After that we did a tasting of some of the wine that they make. The only grapes they are able to grow in their vineyard are the Blanc du Bois wine grape so we decided to get the full experience we would get a bottle of the Blanc du Bois (semi-sweet) and sit outside in the vineyard that the very grapes we were drinking had grown in!

As our afternoon wrapped up we realized it was time to head up to Houston for our dinner plans with Sim's coworker and his wife. We had made reservations to take advantage of a special deal the Melting Pot was offering for military families in honor of Veterans Day. They had never been to a Melting Pot before so we had a good time watching them figure out how the whole fondue thing works and we all ate and drank entirely too much! It was a really wonderful day, celebrated in honor of all of those who have served our country in the military. I am very thankful for the sacrifices made by everyone in the service and most importantly proud of my Coastie!

April Showers bring May Flowers....and mosquitoes!

Springtime has come and passed in Galveston. It's full steam ahead to summer as evidenced by the mosquito bites covering our legs and arms!

Spring was welcomed on the island with the blooming of thousands of wild flowers. I don't know if it was quite as bountiful last year or if I just didn't notice it as well, but it sure was a welcome sight as the area still recovering from the hurricane was blanketed in an array of colors while the temperatures heated up. Below is an image from the cemetary that I just thought was so beautiful. A place that serves a symbol of death, covered in life.

In April I (Sara) was lucky enough to get to go back to Virginia to attend my college reunion. I had not been back to Farmville in years and it was so nice to get to see the campus, walk through town, and especially to catch up with old friends and sorority sisters. The last part of my weekend was spent visiting with my family, unfortunately a short visit but it was so good to see everyone!

In early May it was back to Virginia for Jacqueline's bridal shower and girls weekend. We spent most of Saturday touring different vineyards in beautiful Charlottesville, VA. Sunday was her bridal shower and Mother's Day. Thankfully Mom & Dad Bassett were able to make a trip up to Richmond from NC (along with Aunt Connie) to spend Sunday afternoon and evening with me. It was such a nice visit and much needed because it had been 5 months since I had seen them!

The end of May was wrapped up with a Memorial Day Weekend trip to Lake Travis, Texas for the two of us. It was our first time in that part of Texas and we both absolutely fell in love. It's a shame there is no Coast Guard on the Lake because I think we would move their in a heartbeat! We treated this get-a-way as an early "anniversary trip" and spent most of our time relaxing by the pool! We even rented a small speedboat one day and explored the lake!

Speaking of our Anniversary; yesterday, June 2nd, was our second wedding anniversary! We've surived another year! haha.. I told Sim that I think this past year has been our best one yet :) Cheers to many many more! We celebrated by going to dinner at the Chart House at Kemah Boardwalk. We had a declicious dinner and walked around the boardwalk afterwards. I thought it was pretty cool that I actually was able to work the shoes from our wedding into my outfit last night! I think it was the first time since our wedding night that I have actually worn them too!