Our trip to Austin

We just returned from our trip to Austin TX.

It was a rather daunting task to pack and take our family of 5 on a trip of that size. We rode a total of 4 airplanes, 2 buses, checked 2 big suitcases, 2 carseat bags, had 6 carry-on bags, 3 kids and 2 adults. Thats a lot of stuff to get from point A to point B! But we did it! Skylar was super excited that we were going on a Southwest airplane, and he was such a big boy this trip. He carried his bags all through the airport, sat in his own seat on the plane, never had any accidents (of the potty kind) and was a great help and listener. Niko was a bit harder. He tries to carry his bags but I packed them a little too heavy for him on the way out. The "terrible twos" have hit Niko hard, so if we said go left he went right, lets go he stopped, hold my hand he fell to the ground. He was just extremely stubborn. With all that said he still was a great kid and seemed to have lots of fun. Pepper did awesome; she handled the plane ride like a champ never crying and slept a lot. Turns out she had an ear infection through the whole trip. What a trooper!

We had lots of fun meeting up with Guy's friends, exploring the town, and just being a family. One of the places we explored, Zilker park, was awesome. It had a huge play structure, a train ride, tasty snow cones and a public swimming hole.

We spent an evening waiting for the bats to come out. Every night millions (well 1.5 million we were told) of bats come flying out of the Congress bridge. If you ever are in Austin be sure to add that to your list of things to do. We walked the trail around the lake that runs through the downtown.

We headed out to the lake where the kids and Guy got go swimming in Lake Travis and the water was so warm.

Amazingly, Guy and I made it through the trip and actually had a stress-free time. We can't say that it was relaxing but stress free is a major plus!

Below are some pictures of our adventure

Waiting for our first flight

Car silliness

Above: Niko playing with whats left of his bagel

Below: the boys sleeping after a day of exploring

on the trail walking to see the bats

a pair of swans floating on the lake in downtown that we saw on our walk to the bats

The nesting turtle we saw on the way to the bats

Parked out on the lawn waiting for the bats

the boys keeping themselves busy while we wait

Finally the bats!

Whoa!

At the lake

Pepper enjoying her time on the beach

Below: The picture does not do it justice but all those little black dots are people enjoying the lake in their kayaks and canoes

The pub crawl!

A great way to go pub crawling. Each person had their own set of pedals and they were all sitting at the bar having a drink while they enjoyed downtown Austin.