Porter Park Christmas Village

After we finished at the zoo, we had dinner at Golden Corral in Brownsville.  The food was really quite good and very plentiful.

Then we headed across the street from the Gladys Porter Zoo to the Holiday Village that was set up for Christmas at Porter Park.  The village display is set up in the main meadow of the park.  It is a very pretty setting and the display is set up as a town with everything a town would have including restaurants, a library, a church, stores and even a dentist.  Lights adorn the inside and outsides of the buildings.  They make changes and additions to the holiday village so that there will be a continued interest in it. 

The kiddos seemed to really enjoying peeping in all the windows to see what was happening inside each little building.  There was certainly a lot of attention to detail given to each exhibit.

There was also some entertainment going on in the park but we didn't sit down to watch that.  We did take the kids over to the playground to let them wear out any existing energy they may have stored up so they would nap on the way home.  They had a great time at the playground.  Tommy made friends with a little boy and they really got a lot of exercise chasing each other around.  

All of us were pretty surprised at how long it took for the kids to get to sleep in the car.  They almost outlasted me!

Gladys Porter Zoo

The next stop was the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.   This zoo officially opened on September 3, 1971.  It is situated on 31 acres and has about 1600 animals and many endangered species.  The zoo is known for its successes in breeding endangered species of wildlife.  The zoo is named after Gladys Porter, the daughter of Earl C. Sams, former president of JCPenney. 

Danica entering the zoo

They look relaxed

Addi and Tommy

He's a Big Fella!

Grandma and Tommy

Porcupine

Bornean Bearded Hog

Stanley Crane

Harnessed Bushback Antelope - African

The zoo is laid out really well and the exhibits are all nice and clean.  Many of the animals have a lot of room to roam.  There is a canal that runs through the zoo and makes little islands for some of the animals and there are boardwalks so that you can walk around them.

White Tiger

Checking out the tigers

Addi wants his attention

Central American Rattlesnake

We're checking out a snake

Gila Monster

Armidillo

An abundance of Giraffes

Howler Monkey

East African Crowned Cranes

Doma Gazelle - African

Danica and Addi in front of the zebras

Now entering the playground

and what a playground it is!

Tommy is on the move!

Danica is up to playing also

Here comes Addi

Next comes Danica

Tommy again

Addi again

Oh my, Grandpa got into the action!

Danica and her Mom

Playing in the Mist

Camel

Red Ruffed Lemur from Madagascar

Rhino

He looks bored!

Greater Marabou Stork - Africa

ADDISYN

TOMMY

Orangutan

He's losing his head!

Addi follows suit

Scarlet Ibis - South America

Mongolian Duck

He's got attitude!

They are sitting on a chair with a vibrating foot rest

Spectacled Bear - Andes Mountains

Sun Bear - Southeast Asia

Tommy talking to Daddy

Addi talking to Daddy

Souvenir time

Our little cutie pie!

We all had an excellent time checking out all the unique animals that reside at the Gladys Porter Zoo.  Then, of course, we had to stop for some souvenirs.