President's Day at Brazos Bend State Park

The sun had finally emerged after a long week of clouds and rain... so we decided to get out and enjoy the weather. It was still a bit chilly and quite windy, but we still had a great time...

there is nothing like being outdoors.

We headed a little farther south to Brazos Bend State Park. We have been there before during the summer, but we were not able to really see any of the "wildlife" last time, so we decided to give it another try. This time the park did not disappoint.

Before we left that morning, Dallin was very worried that the alligators were going to get him... and he was not too sure about the idea of going to a place where they lived. Finally we convinced him that these alligators were more like the one in the movie, Princess and the Frog :)... we were hoping :). The kids were actually really excited once they saw the alligators.

After our fun hike, we headed over to the Nature Center where the kids were able to touch all kinds of alligator bones, turtle shells, snake skins and more. But I think they were most intrigued by the corn snake and baby alligator the volunteers were holding outside of the cages. They were able to touch each of them and boy were they excited about that. Abigail said her favorite was "that silly corn snake that kept going under that lady's arm...silly snake." Dallin said his favorite was the baby alligator... "I even touched him, Mom!"

All in all, the day was a success. We are definitely heading back. Maybe in a month it will be warm enough for camping :). We are crossing our fingers.

Below: Can you see how close that alligator is??? Just sitting there in the water!

This big fella was sunning himself on the other side of the bridge. He was really only about 4 feet from the edge of the bridge!

There was one other alligator ... sitting really low in the grasses and water... you could just see his eyes and the hump of his back. He was only about 2-3 feet from the edge of the trail (Not the bank.. the trail)!

Climbing the Observation Tower: It was SO windy up there. The kids went up and really just wanted to turn right back around. We made them look over the edge :).

Climbing - what kids do best

A boy and his sticks...