Aside from the jerk who parked to the left of us - on the freaking sidewalk. Not even a real parking spot. Jacob took this picture to document both things. And for Miss Em, who was sweet enough to drive to MSP later that day, collect our car and tuck in into our garage for the duration of our trip. Thanks, Emily!
The part right after this was probably the most chaotic - checking in one huge bag of luggage and one huge car seat, then squeezing a high back booster into a spare kitchen trash bag and checking that. Then proceeding through security with two adults, two kids and one baby (excuse me, "infant-in-lap"); along with all of our shit, which included but wasn't limited to: one baby carseat, three backpacks and a big blue bag containing Jack's panda nebulizer and albuterol and a cooler bag with his and Freddie's amoxicillin. Security was fine, there were no body scans or riots or anything. It's just a PITA to take off shoes and backpacks and unpack half your crap to go through the x-ray machine while maintaining two small children and one infant-in-lap, then putting everything back to sorts while airport personnel isn't so patiently moving it down the belt. And the car seats were a fiasco that I didn't expect. We have two car seat bags but about 10 minutes before leaving for the airport I realized I could only find one and called my SIL frantically for help sorting out what to do (could we borrow, should we take?). Hence the trash bag and carry-on seat.
That was the worst part. Just getting in. From then on the trip was so much easier than expected, considering our traveling companions. Our plane out of MSP was delayed about an hour - with us on it - because the baggage crew found about 40 bags that didn't make it on to the plane, so we have to go back to the gate and load those. Took forever. Then we had to hit the de-icing station on the other side of the airport from the runway they were using that day. Then we were finally off. Jack did so well on his first flight! Zero fussiness despite a double ear infection and congested chest. He slept, he ate, he gnawed. The big guys ate snacks and watched a show on the laptop. I'm not even sure they noticed the huge delay.
On Tuesday the fun began. Jacob took the boys to the hotel pool and hot tub after breakfast. Then after Jack's nap we went out to lunch at Mother's Cafe and Garden. If you are a vegetarian and in Austin, go there. It's still one of my favorite places to eat, even after nearly a decade. We ended up getting our food to go because Freddie was so tired from the day before (and not going to bed Monday night in the "hometel") that he passed out in the car. Instead we had a picnic in an H.E.B parking lot. Total hillbillies. And here's the proof:
That's us. Parked in a Customer's Only parking spot. Eating on a median in a parking lot. Baby in nothing but a paper diaper. Using a (useless in Texas) winter coat as a picnic blanket. People were stopping to ask us directions.
Later that day Jacob met up with Jeff and William at Zilker Park. The boys *loved* it!
Then the whole fam met up with Kim and her sweet boy Henry for dinner and playtime at Phil's Ice House/Amy's Ice Cream. You saw the cow picture below. Here are a couple more. I wish I'd taken more pictures - I was kind of distracted wanted to catch up with Kim! - thankfully the kids asked me for these but I'm sad that I didn't get any with Kim and Henry! Sorry, guys.
Wednesday Jacob took the boys hiking up Mount Bonnell before breakfast (they were up early, thank you, "hometel"). After breakfast Jacob's aunt, uncle, Cousin Bonnie and Daniel came by the hotel to visit. They most likely came to see the newest Rod but of course he took a super nap during their entire visit. After they left, we forced Freddie to take a rare late-morning nap while Sammy and Jacob went on the Austin Duck Tour. Driving into Town Lake listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn was quite a way to show Sammy our old home.
Last but not least, we met up with Jacob's mom, dad, sister, BIL and Cousins William and Lily at Lakeline Mall to take family pictures at Picture People. The kids weren't so into the family photo, but they loved the big train that drove through the mall.
This train isn't on a track or anything. It literally drives around the mall and pedestrians have to move out of it's way or be run over. Pretty sweet, actually.
Here's a pic of Cousin William and Sammy playing while waiting on picture orders. They are obviously Future Longhorns.
What's weird about being back in Austin when you live so far away is that you get use to your kids being easy to spot because they are usually the only ones in burnt orange. This strategy didn't work so well in Austin.
After much playtime my boys begged their Papa for quarters for the gazillion mall rides. Then Grandma gave them more quarters for gum and candy! Dinner followed at Threadgill's.
Thursday (Thanksgiving) we hit the road for Victoria in our rental ride (a Chrysler Town and Country loaded with automatic sliding doors and a built-in DVD player -- sooo awesome for car trips). After this test drive I can see the merits of a minivan ownership while one's family is so young. I didn't love the handling of the T&C - it was kind of a beast compared to my Mazda5 - but it fit the five of us more comfortably for a road trip the the 5.
And, now, what you've been waiting for! Here are the babies.
Jack and Lily. (sung to the tune of Ben Fold's "Zak and Sara") "Jack-and-Lily..."
Aren't they the cutest things?!
They were born exactly - to the day exactly - two months apart. It was so fun to see them together. Their interaction was mostly limited to trying to gnaw on one another and/or grabbing at each other aimlessly in an attempt to grab and somehow chew the other. It was precious.
That was basically it. It was so much more uneventful than I anticipated. Traveling with two kids and a baby is exhausting but I am so glad we went. It was a great time and the boys LOVED Texas.
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1 comment:
LOVE the shorts and only diaper photos after having to bundle up completely today...and I was still cold. Also love Jack and his cous!
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