Austin, TX

A few days after getting back from ICMA Michael had another conference in Austin, TX (October 4-7) that we all went to. I will admit that we were all a little tired of traveling. But I do love any opportunity to escape town and make family memories.

We left Tuesday afternoon and pulled into Austin right around dinner time. We went to a delicious Italian place, recommended to us by Michael's coworker's daughter who is a chef in Austin. Still dreaming of that chicken picata!

Wednesday Michael was in meetings all day so the boys and I went for a really long adventure. For some reason I didn't think we would need the double stroller. So I pushed Collin and wore Derrick. And it was exceptionally hot for October. I was so so sweaty by the time we got back later that afternoon! My bra was wet and I realized that I only had brought the one (I forgot a lot of stuff on this trip!) I was literally blow drying it that night since we were going to see friends for dinner. But we had a fun day exploring Austin. I was really impressed with how pedestrian friendly the whole city is. We went to this huge park with lots of walking trails. It was huge and there was a big event they were setting up for so it took a while to find the playground. They also had a little train ride that we rode. Probably the highlight for Collin. And on the way home we ran into a Trader Joe's. We stopped in for a cold drink, a couple snacks, and they had mini pumpkins that I couldn't resist so I let Collin pick one out. I miss Trader Joe's! That evening we went and had dinner with our friends the Tustisons that we knew from our San Antonio budget office days. He now works for a suburb of Austin. The kids played so well with each other and it was so nice to catch up with them!

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday the boys and I were so tired! Derrick really needed a morning nap so Collin and I lounged around the hotel room and enjoyed snuggles and lots of TV together. It was nice to just relax. We ventured out for lunch to a little burger shack. They were pretty good burgers. Collin loved having his own big burger to enjoy. We went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Then for dinner we tried out a Thai place nearby. It was pretty good, but I like our Thai place in Lake Jackson better.

 

 

One fun memory was that two of the nights after Derrick went to bed Collin got to do something with Michael or Me. With Michael the boys went swimming. We had forgotten his floaties so we decided that was a good activity with dad since he can hold him better in the water. On my night with Collin we went to the common area of the hotel and played Candyland and had hot chocolate. This was his first time playing the game and he loved it! (Inspired us for a birthday present for him and it has been played several times a week since he got it!)

We left Friday morning and hit up Ikea on our way home. Always love going there! Then it was home again. And I think it's safe to say we were all pretty excited to be done with trips and let the birthday/holiday portion of the year begin!