Gators, Turtles and Ducks, oh my!

First, to answer questions from the previous post: no, we did not do all that grass stuff ourselves. Kenny did a fair amount, but in the end we paid some people to empty the yard of weeds, install a sprinkler system, then install sod. We had to save for a full year to be able to afford sprinkling/sodding 6000 square feet of yard.

Alright, on to the post at hand: I finally saw my authentic wild Texas Alligator! We went to Brazos State Park, about an hour and a half southwest of here, with my parents and my brother Kevin (and family).
We saw probably a dozen gators, one as close as 20 feet or so. Apparently it was the park's 25th anniversary so we unexpectedly got in for free then got to participate in some fun exhibits (petting baby snakes and gators, poking sea anemones). We took a 2-mile-ish hike around a lake, stopping every four feet to take pictures of a gator or a turtle.
Some highlights from the trip...
How cute are my boys:


Gator in the background of the following pics:



Why DIDN'T the turtle cross the road? Because some lady came along and got up in his face with a camera:

Daniel enjoyed riding with Dad:

There were turtles hanging out in the water every 10 feet or so:

Here's the gator that let us get real close: