Blue Bell and Bluebonnets

So we made a trek to Benham today to visit the Blue Bell factory. We went with out friends, Mrs. TD and her two kids, who are great friends of our family. We also took one of my friends from work and her two kids. We learned all about the history of Blue Bell and how they make the ice cream and the flavors. The slogan for Blue Bell is "We eat all we can, and sell the rest." And it's true! There is a big freezer in the break room stocked with ice cream and everyone can eat as much as they want. That is my kind of job!

Of course vanilla is the best seller, but Cookies and Cream is #2! The tour concludes with a chance to sample, which we all did! I tasted Candy Jar ice cream, which I loved, considering I am all about the chunks! Justin liked it too...



And Travis had to settle for plain cookies and cream, since it wasn't Olympic Mountain chocolate cookies and cream! He thought it was okay...


And here is most of the gang enjoying their choice of flavors. That is really the best part of the tour- the samples! Justin didn't care much for the movie, and Travis thought some of the machines were cool, but when are we going to get the ice cream?!!



Then we took some pictures with the old ice cream truck. We could NOT get the kids all to look at the same time, so this is the best we could do.

The kids were a tad restless since we rode in the car for an hour and a half and then walked slowly through the factory for the tour, so they were ready to go and explore and run a bit. There was this cute statue of a cow and a little girl leading it on a rope. While the girls were getting their pictures taken at the front of the cow, this was what the boys did. Little TD hung on the tail, Travis milked the cow, and Justin crawled underneath it.


I think Justin has a little bit of cat in him. If there is one thing in the middle of an empty room, he will crawl under it. It is actually pretty funny. I can usually find him pretty quickly if I look under everything!



Then we had a picnic at a great park in Brenham. It is called Fireman's Park, which Travis loved! I didn't get any pictures of Travis because I was too busy watching Justin. He loved the swings and held on and kicked his legs for all he was worth. I had to pry his hands off to reposition them because they were too high up. He didn't want to let go!

And Justin wanted to roam too. He stood up like this (okay, maybe not with the face, but you know what I mean...) for quite some time trying to throw his leg up and climb up. He did really well balancing like that with one leg up too.

And then Justin and Mrs. TD put their heads together for a little talk. They were so cute. We don't get to see our friends near as much as we like, so we enjoyed every minute of the day. We had planned to take pictures in the bluebonnets, since it's the season, but we were tired and the thought we might just try next week nearer to home. It was really windy so every one's hair looked a little crazy. Travis tried to "comb" my hair with his fingers at church tonight, and I think he pulled a chunk out! Justin fell asleep before we got back on the freeway, and Travis not long after, so I know they had fun!