Our BIG Texan adventure

Brent had spring break this past week, so we decided to go to Austin to visit my sister, Marcie and her husband Craig. This was really our first vacation with Owen. Well, I guess I would have to say our first trip, since apparently it is not a vacation unless you don’t have your kids with you. We left Friday morning and drove the entire day to Manor (just outside Austin). It took us around 12.5 hours. We only stopped three times the entire time. Owen was super good. I pretty much had to stay in the back with him and play with him, feed him, etc, but it wasn't until the end that he started getting really cranky.

The next morning we woke up and went to the San Antonio temple. After the temple we headed over to the Alamo. Okay, so I know everyone says it, but it really is not as big as I thought it would be. I also thought it was funny to learn that the top rounded part of the Alamo wasn’t part of the original structure. Funny, since that is what a lot of people associate the Alamo with. After the Alamo we went down to the river walk. It was really cool, but it was pretty crowded. We walked around, ate at a Tex-Mex place and took some pictures. Owen was really funny when we were walking around. We put him in his stroller and no matter what we did he put his feet up on the tray. He is such a lounge baby. He likes to be comfortable. He did pretty good for a while, but he is not used to being in hot weather. It didn't help that I wasn’t really thinking it would be that hot, so I had neglected to bring a hat or sunscreen. I am such a bad mother sometimes. Who goes to Texas without sunscreen for their baby? Oh well we survived and Owen didn’t even get sunburned, which was a plus.

San Antonio Temple
Alamo
Brent and me at the Alamo

The Republic of Texas Mexican Restaurant.

By the River Walk.

The next day was Sunday so we went to church and then just kind of took it easy and had a restful Sabbath. Craig and Marcie cooked us some very yummy food while we were in Texas. Sunday we had bacon wrapped steak. Very delicious. You have to have steak while you are in Texas, right?

Monday Marcie and I went and got our hair cut. I decided it was time to go short. The lady actually cut my hair a little shorter than I asked her to, but I really like it. It is so much easier to do and I think it will be much nicer for the summer. After the haircuts we went to Rudy’s BBQ for lunch. Now I am not a huge fan of BBQ, but I loved this stuff. I especially loved the brisket. After lunch we headed over to a park to relax and to fly a kite. At least we tried to fly the kite. It didn’t work so well. But I must say we gave it our all. There were probably quite a few people looking at us thinking, “Umm…you can probably stop trying now. I don’t think it is going to work.” Oh well, it was fun to try. We then headed down to a lake to do some canoeing. We didn’t take Owen on the canoe, we took turns watching him. It was really cool, because it was like we were in downtown Austin, but in a canoe.
After canoeing we took a few family pictures. Owen was really tired, but we got a few good ones. We ended the night by going to Taco Cabana for dinner. It was pretty good. Brent even liked it better than what he had on the river walk.

Rudy's BBQ

Craig and Brent insisted that Marce and I go out in the canoe together. I think they just wanted to see if we could get it go where we wanted and not tip over or run into someone.

This picture actually makes it look like we got it to fly. Too bad it isn't true.

Brent trying to teach me how to canoe! I am not very good.

All of us overlooking the lake.

Taco Cabana

Tuesday we sleep in and had a lazy morning then we went to Kirby’s Café. It is this little place that is famous for their pancakes. They were really good. I think they are the best pancakes I have ever had and they were HUGE. After the Café we went to a few Good wills. The ones in Texas are so much better than any I have ever been too. Pretty clean and very organized (well, some of the stuff). After Marcie and I set out to get these famous donuts so Brent and I could try them. All week Marcie had been saying how much she wanted to make sure we tried them since they were so good and Craig keep teasing her about making sure it happened. We had a joke the entire week that if we didn’t get to taste these donuts, our trip would be a bust. Good thing we squeezed it in at the very last second. To Marcie’s credit the donuts were really good, even after so much hype! And after all that, we didn't even get a picture with us eating them. I can't believe it!

Just ignore the picture of flatboard Stanley, it was for an assignment that my nephew asked Marcie to participate in. Look at how huge those pancakes are! I guess everything IS bigger in Texas.

We had such a fun trip, but I think we wore Owen out. He was not at all excited about getting in his car seat and wasn’t nearly as good on the way home as he was on the way down, but he still did pretty good. We now have the joy of having him scream and scoot down to get out of his car every time we need to go somewhere. Fun times!

Thanks, Craig and Marcie for being awesome hosts. We had a wonderful Spring Break.

I will do a separate post of some of the family pictures Craig and Marcie took for us. Some of them are already at the top of the blog.