Merry Christmas to all! We were able to visit Holiday in the Gardens at Moody Gardens to get us in the Christmas spirit this week. We started in Ice Land, an icy tent filled with 30 foot ice sculptures made of two million pounds of ice featuring themes from around the world. We saw the Statue of Liberty, the Pyramids, the Trevi Fountain, and so much more. There was also an ice slide that Kai, Reya, Grandma and I went on that was pretty fun. The ice was colored and some of it was lit, like the cool tunnel below.

After Ice Land, we went to the Aquarium to wait for it to get dark outside. The aquarium was really cool. Kai and Reya LOVED seeing all the aquatic animals. They were excited to see the “Happy Feet” penguins, especially when they kept swimming up to the kids through the glass. We got to learn about different types of coral and got to see an underwater “shipwreck” that is being used as an example of how to help rebuild coral reefs. Reya got to see Unicorn Tangs and Kai got to see some big sharks. Overall this was a great aquarium!

Afterwards we went into the Discovery Pyramid to check out the diving exhibit. We unknowingly ended up at the Nautilus submarine, which was a 3D experience that simulated a submarine experience. This one sprayed us with water though, which would worry me in a real submarine! Reya thought the portholes were cool, and she enjoyed some of the fish interactions through the front “window”.

As we exited the Discovery Pyramid we decided it was dark enough to view the lights at their best. This was about a mile and a half of 2 million lights set up around the grounds. It was pretty cool to see and the kids loved going into the giant Christmas ornaments and gift boxes. We got to see the 12 Days of Christmas represented with lights, a jumping frog, a mountain of beautiful butterflies (my favorite), some dinosaurs, and so much more! Overall it was a great time to get us into the holiday spirit!

We hope your holiday season is full of magic and happiness!