Gators & Friends

June 29, 2011

Today was THE day. The day Silas and Eli finally got to hold a baby alligator. They have been awaiting and talking about this for-ever. Every time Silas would talk about going to Texas he'd say, "Hey guess where I'm going.... TEXAS. And guess what I am going to do while I'm there? HOLD A BABY ALLIGATOR. But don't worry, it's mouth will be taped shut so it can't bite me."

I'm not kidding. This has been the ultimate countdown. Basically everyday I would hear, "Momma, how many days until we go to Texas? And how many days until I get to hold a baby alligator." Essentially, Texas = hold a gator." I'm not sure, but if I know Silas, it was probably one of the first things he asked my parents when we arrived at DFW at 1:15 a.m. more than a week ago. Little did he know we were driving to Colorado first. Once we got there I kept having to explain to him that we were in Colorado and we couldn't hold a baby alligator until we drove back to Texas.

All that to say, this was the highlight of the entire trip. Papaw drove us to the gator farm and Aunt Cindy met us there. My expectations were exceeded. I knew Silas would be okay as long as the gator holding came through. But, we had no idea how many alligators the place would actually have, or all the other cool animals that were there. We will definitely go back, for sure. I double checked the website numerous times to make sure the gator holding would take place and found out it happens several times a day, after they feed the gators. Anyone that wants a turn, gets it. Just in the gator pond, there were over 150 alligators. The feeding was pretty cool because you can tell those gators are trained. The worker went to a certain spot on the dock, shook the big bucket of feed and the gators all came crowding. Such a cool thing to watch. After the feeding, we got in line to hold the baby gator and Silas was practically jumping up and down. I knew Silas was determined to get his little hands on that gator, but Eli shocked me. I didn't expect him to follow through because he had previously told me, "Momma, I not hold a baby gator. I just touch him." But, he did and was pretty happy about it.

Click to watch Silas and Eli holding the gator.

(video courtesy of Aunt Cindy)

Aside from gator holding, the boys enjoyed a pony ride and walking around the petting zoo feeding all the animals. There were deer, zebra, horses, camels, llama, kangaroos, an ostrich, goats, and a handful of other animals, of which I have no idea what they were. I thought the kangaroos were pretty darn cute - I'm not sure I've ever seen one.

After we made our rounds, of course the boys wanted to pick a prize from the store. These kind of places know exactly what they're doing, because the entrance and exit is directly through the store. Both Silas and Eli picked out a little stuffed gator and Aunt Cindy got them both a gator shirt. Thanks, Aunt Cindy. Afterwards, we all went to lunch where we got a kick out of watching Eli fall asleep while still eating. He was one tired, happy, gator-holding boy.

It was the perfect day and we will be going back to Gator & Friends. My dad asked Silas on the car ride home what his favorite part of his trip to Texas and without a second thought he replied, "going to the gator farm and holding a baby gator."

Thanks, Papaw, for taking us to such an awesome place and thanks, Aunt Cindy, for joining in on the fun. We love you!!