Thank You Opa

The kids loved their Valentine's gifts from Opa.

Austin Part 3

On Monday, the weather was cold and rainy, so we decided to do our indoor activities.  We first went to tour the Capitol building.  What a beautiful structure.  Even the inside of the door hinges was decorated.   The kids didn't enjoy this as much as Patrick and I did, but sometimes kids just have to bear with their parents.

For lunch we went to El Chilito!  It was cold, but they had heaters in their patio.  The tacos were awesome and we had a lime watermelon agua fresca that was delicious.  So glad Amanda and Luke introduced us to it.  

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Our final stop before heading home was the Lydon B. Johnson Presidential Library.  We didn't spend too much time there; the kids were tired and we were eager to get on the road and avoid traffic, but we were there just long enough to get the "Johnson treatment."  

Austin Part 2

On Sunday, we went to church at a ward up in Austin.  After church and making sandwiches in our hotel room, we went out to enjoy the hill country.   So beautiful and so nice to drive windy roads and see beautiful houses perched on the hills overlooking Lake Travis.   Clark was kind enough to take a nap while we drove the back roads.
  We went up to see Mt. Bonnell, since it's the highest point around Austin.  It was good kid-friendly hike with beautiful views of the lake.  Lots of other families up there with the same idea that we had.

After our hike, we went on a quest to find a bathroom (toddlers and pregnant ladies are a dangerous combo, ha!).  Fortunately for us, right at the bottom of the road we took to get up to Mt. Bonnell, there was a nature preserve with a pretty clean port-a-potty, hooray!  We ate a snack there at the picnic tables and then explored a little.  They had lots of little trails running through the preserve and a beautiful historic home with ponds out front and lots of peacocks wandering around.  

Austin

For Valentine's Day/ President's Day weekend, our family took a trip down to Austin.  It had been over six years since we last visited the Peterson family during their stint at UT.   We were fortunate to have excellent weather for Saturday and Sunday, before it got really cold on Monday and we headed back home.
  I made some berry hand-pies to take with us on our trip since we wouldn't be home on Valentine's Day.   For my first attempt, they turned out pretty well.  The kids thought they were super exciting.

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed down to Lady Bird Lake and just walked around and enjoyed the sights.  We saw lots of people in canoes, kayaks, and rowing sculls out on the water.  After enjoying a hand-pie at the park, we braved the downtown traffic (it was pretty bad that weekend b/c of road closures for a marathon) and went to get lunch at Gourdough's.  We had to wait a while to get a table, but the food was amazing.  They are known for their doughnuts and our sandwiches came on doughnut buns (without any glaze) and my salad came with a garlic doughnut (it was really good).    

After lunch, we splurged and took the Austin Duck Tour.   One of the coolest parts was that we drove right by Amanda and Luke's place where we had visited six years before, so cool!   The kids really enjoyed being on the Duck and going out on Lake Austin.