Our travel adventures continue...
THE "TURTLE PARK"
Of course, some of our Texas outings had to include time spent outdoors. What gorgeous fall weather we had during our visit! This spot isn't officially named the Turtle Park, but it may as well be! Matt & Kim, Ian & Ryan happened upon turtles here during a family bike ride, and they now return to this walking trail often to visit and feed the turtles. Here is our family group...
...and here are the turtles! The white specks you see in the murky water are the pieces of bread that we threw to our new friends.
I love this picture! Ian and Ryan are so intent on throwing their bread to the turtles, while Daddy is feeding pieces of bread to Cody in the background. :)
Mommy and Jaden threw a few bread pieces as well.
Another fun picture-- don't you love our shadows upon the bridge? Great shot, Kim!
A little bit of peek-a-boo fun by the bridge...
We attempted to get a few family photos while we were together. The four of us rarely have a chance to get a group shot taken.
Unfortunately, the boys weren't in a very smiley mood (despite the energetic attempts of Ian and Matt to elicit a few giggles). At least we were all looking at the camera! :)
We ended the evening with a pleasant walk & bike ride. Our Montana family especially appreciated all of the greenery and the leaf-bearing trees. Ah... fall in Texas!
What an enjoyable evening!
McDONALD'S
On our way home following the turtle adventure, we swung by a McDonald's for a special ice cream treat. This outing was actually Grammy & Papa's idea. They had sent each of the boys some ice cream money as a special Halloween gift for us to enjoy in Texas. Ian was a big fan of his swirl cone.
Ryan wasn't too excited about trying his vanilla ice cream...
...but he LOVED his Daddy's chocolate shake. I'm not sure that Matt enjoyed very much of this treat for himself!
As usual, our boys dug right into their ice cream treat. Jaden probably could've had even more than this large cup of vanilla in front of him.
Cody also enjoyed his dessert down to the very last bite! Thanks, Papa & Grammy, for this special treat!
IAN'S PRESCHOOL
Finally, on our last full day in Texas, we had the opportunity to tour Ian's preschool classroom. School was not in session for him that day, but we were able to get into his room so he could show us around.
We loved getting a closer look at our nephew's school day. Ian explained about his variety of classroom activities and patiently answered all of our many questions. Then, he pointed out some Ian-specific things, like when he was going to serve as the classroom's special helper,
and some of his beautiful artwork.
Then, of course, we had to see the popular preschool playground,
complete with a full set of small tricycles!
Ian easily maneuvered the tricycle along the playground's pathways.
Of course, the rest of the boys had to join in on the playground fun, too. Jaden & Cody's favorite spot was the slide.
Ryan loved the tunnels. Be sure to notice big brother on his tricycle in the background!
What a little cutie!
Our attempt to take a cousin picture on the slide didn't really go as planned.
But all in all, it was such a joy to see Ian's school stomping grounds. It's hard to believe that he's big enough to be in school already! We love being able to visualize Ian in his preschool setting much more clearly now.
On our way out of town the next day, we visited Ian's preschool one more time to drop him off for school. Although we didn't take any pictures that day, we had the special opportunity to meet his teacher, Mrs. Miller, and to see Ian interact with some of his classmates. We were impressed with Ian's confidence and comfort-level in his classroom. It's obvious that he is a bright, attentive, and loving little student. We're so proud of you, Ian, and we love you!
