Walking wiff Dinos!

Thanks to Billy's awesome sis with all the hook-ups, we got tix to see Walking with Dinosaurs, which was here for a short while from April 2-6. We went the first night and took the P-ster along. I had no idea what was in store. My naive self heard "dinosaurs" and immediately thought exhibit, so we'd need the stroller and such. Welp, as it turns out, it was at the Toyota Center and no exhibit can take place there of course! It was this actual show, with life-size dinosaurs (according to their skeletal findings) moved around by people controlling them inside! Amazing tektroniks and great acoustics definitely made for an entertaining event for children and adults alike. Surprisingly, P was a great sport. I was worried he'd be intimidated by the loud noises but he was in awe for a total of about 20 minutes - a record for him! The rest of time he spent body surfing within our group and gurgling and bumbling at everybody around us. The show was 1.5 hours long. I regret missing a photo-op of the brachiosaurus though! In case you need your memory refreshed, it's the one with the girraffe-ishly long neck. I guess it made lil P overexcited resulting in a diaper surprise. Well, here are the ones I did get not-so-decent shots of. It was rather difficult aiming with a 19-lb squirming in my lap most of the time.


^^The "stage"


^^Allosaurus


^^Stegosaurus


^^Allosaurus chasing stegosaurus. I was rooting for Steggy, who did get away. Btw, I suppose due to the young audience, there was no bloodshed in this show, dang it.


^^Utahraptors aka raptors.


^^Feasting away. This was the closest to bloodshed there was. The dead lizard was already staged though, boo. Sorry, I just wanted to see some Jurassic Park quality stuff, man.


^^Dualing torosauruses. They were "fighting" over territory, but of course more like circling around each other and then leaving stage..hehe.


^^Ankylosaurus


^^Torosaurus with baby T-rex...ain't he cute?


^^Not so cute when mama T-rex comes along!


^^And chases them all away.


^^RAWRRRR!!!


^^Good view of mama and baby. See that pole underneath mama? Well at the base of it is where a person sits inside and controls the robot. Pretty neato! As for the baby, if you look carefully, you can see someone's legs coming out from underneath.


^^MMMWwwAaAhh

Cheers to a long, fun-filled weekend!

This past weekend was spent with friends and family celebrating none other than my burfday! Oh, and the day I was joined with someone else, the someone known as my Billybob. Words can't describe how wonderful it feels to be loved.

It started off with the in-laws coming over Friday night. Grandma offered to babysit earlier in the day, so Bill didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. Afterall, it's not so often we get to leave the house anymore, so we almost always take every chance we get, not to say we don't love spending time with Preston.

We decided to chillax somewhere. We drove to Rice Village and decided on Jonny's Sports Bar. It used to be Joia, then changed to Touch night club, and now did a 180 to a laid-back sports bar. (Ironically, before all these changes, it was Timberwolves, which was a bumpin' sports bar during its time.) It's rare to have parking right next door to Rice Village bar, which coaxed us to come in. The first thing I noticed was this place seemed to have simply turned on the lights to turn it into a bar because it looked almost exactly like it was when it was club Touch, which I went to over a year ago. With the 4 tatted-out, emo dudes in one corner, the group of college kids playing beer pong and shuffleboard, and the lonesome older single men at the bar, we felt it was a tad too chillax. After a few games of Photo Hunt on the touchscreen game console (check it out at a bar near you - it's super addicting!), we bounced on outta there.

Then we hit up Mugsy's, just outside of Rice Village inside the loop. Turns out, the bartendar went to high school with Bill. (It seems like everywhere we go, Bill constantly gets drink hook-ups somehow. Maybe this explains his alkie ways - or perhaps why he became one..ha.) This place was as dark as it was laid-back. Bill said he used to come here to hang out with friends a lot, but it sure screamed cozy date place with all the (duh) couples, low-lit candles at every (small) table and classic mahogany decor. (The thought of asking how many girls he took here crossed my mind, but gotta keep that to myself - don't want no dramz!) After a short while, we decided to call it a night because we missed P-man.

I noticed that when I go out now, the crowds are not as pleasant and energetic. I guess all those people got a hint and realized the Houston scene ain't what it used to be so they'd rather spend it elsewhere, as do we.

That's why I decided on Maple Leaf Pub for the following night to celebrate my bday, so I can actually converse with people, instead of scream over bad music and getting constantly bumped into. Thankfully, by the end of the night, I was satisfied with the choice. Although I would have liked to go somewhere to dance, choosing a club where you can get all your (Asian) friends in without any issues deterred me from leaving the pub.

To be continued - with photos!