As many of you may know by now – back in the Spring, I entered a picture in the 2012 Wildflower Magazine/Texas Highways Photo Contest.  The judges must have really liked it, because I won First Place in the “People and Wildflowers” Category.

It really has been a fun ride, since they published the image in the magazine and awarded our family a membership to the Wildflower Center.

Well, since all of the winning photos were on display at the Center, we decided to take a family trip down to Austin and have ourselves a look.

The Photography Contest Display was impressive, but beyond that, I was really blown away by the Wildflower Center and all that it has to offer.  We spent the afternoon walking around the grounds, enjoying the various plants and flowers.

I was surprised at how many buildings and gardens the Wildflower Center has available for visitors to experience. There is a gift shop, multiple education halls and presentation rooms, an impressive brick tower, a cafe and a ton of different gardens.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  The kids enjoyed playing in the tower and I even managed to snap off a few more photos.

Who knows – maybe one of the winning photos in NEXT year’s contest was captured that afternoon.