The Japanese Tea Garden is next door to the zoo.  MIL loves zoos!  Even though we had planned to do lunch in Brackenridge Park and then do the museum, she suggested we sqeeze in the zoo too!  At the gate MIL was so sweet that she paid.  When asked if she had a military id for a discount, I dug mine out.  An elderly gentleman behind us was so sweet...he said that being military, we should get in free.  He saw me later in front of the bears and asked me which branch my dh was in.  He told me that he served in the Navy many years ago, for about 4 years. As he thanked me I was thanking him! He was a great encouragement to me!

Well, we never got to see everything.  DS spent a lot of time getting the perfect picture...in the reptile house even!  MIL really wanted to go to the museum too, so I told her to lead us to her favorite animals.  Because she adores kitties so much, she really wanted to see the lions.  Well, in years past I could have taken her right to them.  But the zoo has changed so much and the Africa area is going through more renovation phases, I'm not sure where they were hiding!  In all I think we saw 1/3 of the zoo.  Enjoy!