Austin, Texas
I wanted to post some of the pictures from our trip before it becomes a distant memory and I forget all about it -- which is likely to happen at pretty much any moment now because these days I am completely scatterbrained. I feel like I still have "pregnant brain" (which interestingly enough, I read recently is a scientifically proven condition). I thought it was supposed to go away once the baby is born but mine sure hasn't. I guess maybe there's a thing called "mommy brain"? You know, where your kid drains all of the wits out of you while in utero and then refuses to give any of it back? If not I should coin the phrase because I definitely have a strong case of it!
Sorry, I'm rambling. See what I mean about being completely scatterbrained? And here is where I return back to my original focus.
Austin, Texas!
We had a great trip (with the exception of The Incident, which I am still desperately trying to mentally suppress). I was able to pull it all off and Rick was completely surprised and excited and it was great to get out of town for a few days. Driving through the hill country was so refreshing. The quaint little towns along the way are really neat and I love that at gas stations you can find old-fashioned treasures like this:
Ahhh
I wasn't sure how smoothly things were going to go considering we were traveling with a baby, but Harrison did really well! It was a little tricky trying to get him to go to sleep in the pack & play since he could see us, but we just ignored him and eventually he fell asleep. He woke up a few times the first night but the second night he slept until 5:30 before waking up, which is huge for him. However, we didn't really want to wake up at 5:30 so into the bed the baby came where we all got some good snuggling in and a little bit more sleep. Or at least they did. My boys love to toss and turn and make it pretty impossible to sleep next to them.
Now you see us...
They even toss and turn in unison. Like father, like son.
...and now you don't.
I'm a little sad that Harrison outgrew his carrier so fast. It made running around a lot more easier because we didn't have to disturb him if he fell asleep. It seems like the poor guy would doze off only to be woken up 5 minutes later when we got to where we were going. He was a champ though and not too fussy about missing his nap routine (maybe because he hates his nap routine, ha!).
Sleeping on Daddy
After we checked into the hotel and got settled in, we headed to tour the Capitol. Neither one of us had ever been there before, and it was really interesting. Of course it would be our luck to visit it when they are doing maintenance and it has scaffolding all over the outside. Still a captivating sight though.
Walking up the Great Walk
Looking up the breathtaking rotunda
Zoomed-in to the ceiling. So pretty!
Looking down from the top
Harrison really wanted to get in on a little Michael-Jackson-baby-dangling action, but his square parents ruined his fun.
Gosh, Mom. These poles are right in my way.
Senate Chamber
Throughout the rotunda, there are portraits of all of Texas' former governors. I found it so interesting that the first female governor was elected in the 1920s (only 5 years after the 19th amendment was ratified)!
The nerdy finance major in me found this antique adding machine really neat, too:
how did anybody ever survive without Excel?!
The rest of the trip included a lot of shopping, both at the neat shops in downtown Austin and at the outlets in San Marcos. Here's Rick, really stoked to be at Gymboree. And actually, I'm not being sarcastic. The store has a TV that plays children's videos and he zones out to it every time we go in there. Thank goodness there weren't a bunch of kids around this time because usually it makes him seem pretty creepy, ha ha!
This guy loves his TV
Sunday, we were blessed with good company. Ashley & Joel were in New Braunfels for a trip to Schlitterbahn, so we met up and had dinner.
I love these two!
The cutest boys in the world
It's funny, because we are starting to realize our days of going out to eat are coming to an end. We ate more fast food than anything because it's just not worth the time or money when you're dining out with a baby - it's very flustering. Kind of hard to enjoy your meal when you're constantly moving things out of reach or giving him stuff to distract him or worried that he's going to throw all of his cheerios on the floor or have a melt down before the check comes. But you know what? Totally worth it!
Who, me?
And of course this post wouldn't be complete without some chocolate decadence. It almost caused a diabetic coma, but every bite of it was pure bliss.
Yes, my friends. Chocolate-covered cheesecake! Love at first sight, no? I think Harrison was a little grumpy since we wouldn't share. Which of course was only because he's too young for chocolate-covered cheesecake and not at all because we are greedy when it comes to chocolate. :)
You losers are dead to me.
We did lots of other fun stuff but I'm having a hard time remembering since I didn't take pictures of everything. All in all, it was a great first family vacation (again, with the exception of The Incident)!
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