George Bush Library-College Station

 

We visited the George Bush library last summer for Independence Day. This is a great day to go because it is free admission (and fireworks)! The layout of the library is very nicely done and if we hadn't had our children with us we could've stayed all day reading everything. Our kids favorite part was the Oval office where we took a picture of our family behind the presidents desk.

It wasn't until a year later that we discovered that behind the library is a beautiful pond and a great place to relax or take family pictures. There are always special events going on at the library so make sure to check here their website (on the sidebar) for current happenings.

Field Trip-Madisonville

Our third field trip took us to Madisonville, 50 minutes northeast of CS. The Madison County library was small and not much to look at on the outside but they had a cute children's section! There were games, puzzles, coloring pages, comfy places to read, kid sized tables and of course, plenty of books. I was pleasantly surprised. We spent a lot of time in this little library. While we were in Madisonville, we also happened upon a huge baseball complex along a little lake and had a fun time playing baseball, playing at the park and throwing rocks into the lake. When our tummies started grumbling we made our first family visit to the crowning jewel of Madisonville, Buc-ee's! You cannot visit Texas without experiencing Buc-ee's. We loaded up with lots of food and ate it all the way back to CS. Another successful field trip!

First Fridays-Bryan

One of our all time favorite things to do as a family (or for a date night) is First Fridays in Bryan. Every first Friday in downtown Bryan from 5-9pm there is outdoor music, food, displays, outdoor movies, shows, the list goes on and on. I love shopping the antique and boutique shops in downtown Bryan and stopping to listen to a local band. Our favorite place to stop is Corner of Time Antique Mall & Soda shop. Such a genius idea. Ice cream and antiques? Could it get any better? http://www.corneroftime.com/ In November they have "Lights On" in downtown Bryan where Santa flips a huge light switch to turn on the Christmas lights downtown. There's cookies and hot chocolate and lots of Christmas cheer. http://downtownbryan.com/ Downtown Bryan has a lot to offer. We discover a new place to eat and shop every time we go. Make this activity a monthly family event!

Royalty Pecan Farm

A friend invited to me to join her on a church playgroup trip to the Royalty Pecan Farm, just outside of Caldwell, this Fall. This was something I had been wanting to check out, so I agreed right away. We weren't disappointed! We took a wagon ride out to the pecan orchard while the friendly guide told us all about the farm, pecan trees and the process of harvesting pecans. One of the neatest parts (or so I thought) was feeling like I was somewhere tropical! They have speakers throughout the farm that make the sounds of hundreds of birds to scare off other birds from stealing the pecans. I literally watched as a huge flock of birds circled over the orchard and then flew away after hearing the fake bird calls. Pretty cool! After our tour, our children played on the beautiful lawn overlooking the farm. It would be a beautiful setting for an outdoor wedding. Before we left, we sampled the several different flavored pecans and I found a new vice: CocoaLeche pecans. Major yum. If you're looking for a great place to buy fresh pecans or pecan anything, this is your place. To top of the trip, my little girl found a bunch of wildflowers in the field and the lady at the register tied them up for her with a little ribbon, now how sweet is that?

Field Trip--Caldwell

Our second field trip of the summer took us North of CS to Caldwell, the Kolache (Ko-la-chee) capital of Texas! Or first stop, of course was the public library. The Harrie P. Woodson Memorial library is right off of Hwy 21 in Caldwell. It was small but cozy and the little childrens section was decorated cute and had puzzles and a kids table. When it was time for lunch, we stopped at the Kolache Capital Bake shop and tried our very first kolaches. For those of you new to kolache's (like I was), its basically a roll or biscuit stuffed with different things. We tried the sausage, raspberry, apple and cream cheese. Yummy! We took our new treats to Davidson Creek park where we tried to have a picnic but the hot Texas sun got in the way! Luckily this park had a splash pad and we made some sweet memories by soaking ourselves to the bone in our clothes. Every field trip after that I made sure to bring swimsuits and towels... just in case.

Field Trip--Navasota

To get to know our area better, our first full summer in Texas I decided to do Field Trip Fridays with my children. But where to start? As a child, libraries were magical to me. I grew up in the Midwest where the libraries were huge and easy to come by. I have fond memories of visiting the St Paul Public Library where I would delight in watching puppet shows and playing in the coolest indoor amphitheater in the children's section. I wonder if that amphitheater is still there?

While living in Iowa, we lived near the best library there ever was: It's the thing I miss the most!

Since we had already visited the College Station and Bryan libraries, I got out my Map app and looked for cities surrounding College Station that were large enough for a public library. I googled "public library" in whichever town I decided on and the first one on my list was Navasota. Its about a 25-30 minute drive south of College Station. I was delighted to find that their little library had a castle! My kids loved it. We had fun reading giant books inside the castle and playing with puppets. After, the sweet librarians directed us to a nearby park where we played until it was time for Mama to explore a Navasota antique shop.We stopped in at Navasota Emporium on Washington Ave. That place goes on forever! I was in heaven, and so were my children... which is why it was time to head back to CS. Antiquing with kids is not an easy business. Our first Field Trip was a success! Navasota, we will be back. Do you know of other fun not-so-obvious places to visit in Navasota? Leave me a comment!