Graemma, Mikaela, and I went to Athens, TX for a couple of days to visit Graempa. He was able to take Mikaela to campus and show her off to his co-workers. She charmed them all by shaking hands with everyone she met. After meeting TVCC staff, Graempa had to work so we found things around Athens to do.
On Tuesday afternoon we went to the TX Freshwater Fisheries Center. This was pretty fun. It has some outdoor ponds with glass walls for viewing. They also have indoor aquariums & a museum as well as a pond to go fishing if you want. We didn't fish but we wandered the Center for a long time.
We arrived after lunch and Mikaela fell asleep on the way so the first time through, Mom and I took our time and were able to read information about the fish at our leisure.
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| asleep before we ever got started |
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| asleep next to the first pond with large mouth bass |
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| GIANT catfish swarming the wall |
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| waking up to a fishery wonderland |
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| the one saltwater tank, which is filled with Nemo's friends |
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| watching Dory swim around |
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| playing in the gift shop |
After the gift shop, we went back out to the big pond viewing areas so that Mikaela could see the fish since she slept through it the first time. She was a little skiddish at first but got braver as we walked through.
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| feeding the catfish - which explains why they swarm at the glass |
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| a GIANT paddlefish (I think...) |
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| walking around a courtyard near the catfish pond |
Tuesday evening after Graempa got off of work, we drove to Tyler to have dinner with my cousin and his wife. After dinner at Juicy's (yum!) David had a good time entertaining Mikaela with bubbles on the front porch.
On Wednesday morning, after Graempa went to work we went to the East Texas Arboretum & Botannical Gardens. It was a combination of historical buildings (or replicas of them), gardens, and nature trails. Despite the heat, it was fun and Mikaela enjoyed running around and playing everywhere.
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| windmill |
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| running through the sprinklers |
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| a building for milking cows |
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| old farming equipment |
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| posing for Mommy on a butterfly bench |
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| sitting at a tiny table in the Wofford House |
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| playing with a toy train |
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| going for a run |
On the property there were two playhouses full of toys for kids. Mikaela enjoyed these places and went back a couple of times.
There was also a playground on the property next to the schoolhouse replica. Mikaela really enjoyed the tube slide.
We crossed a bridge just to explore a little and found this sign:
We also found this one:
So that was the end of our trek on the Nature Trail. The rest of our Athens visit was time spent at Graempa's apartment and a few shops on the square. We had a great time on our mini vacation.
