Trip to Austin

Andy traveled to Austin for a work function so the plan was to meet him there on Friday night. But the flights were full due to UT graduation weekend so Matthew and I decided to fly Saturday morning. It probably worked out for the best because Matthew was in a great mood and he traveled so well on the plane. On Friday night, I took Matthew to Nordstrom's cafe for dinner and we enjoyed our dinner with a 3-piece band. I was also able to shop for some new shoes so I didn't mind staying in Dallas.

As soon as Matthew woke up on Sat morning, I put his clothes on and put him in the car - which was already packed with our luggage and stroller. We ate breakfast at the McDonalds in the airport and Matthew enjoyed the pancakes. We flew standby on Southwest since they fly out of Love field - a mile from our house. One of the perks of working in the airline industry is that we can fly standby on other airlines as well but the pitfall is that we pay more in fees and we are below airline employees on the list. But it all worked out nicely on the 8:30am flight and we will definitely consider it next time because the DFW airport is 25 minutes away and much larger so we prefer the smaller airport nearby.

Nanna and Papa picked us up at the austin airport and then we headed to the outlet malls in San Marcos. We ate lunch at the outback restaurant and then headed to the hotel. By that point, Matthew was ready to jump in the pool. He took a nap while we shopped and he was done riding in the car. When he saw Andy, he was giggling and just so happy to be out of the car and see daddy. After he put his swimsuit on, he was running to the pool. Andy thought it was hilarious. Matthew had a blast in the pool and went down the water slide with Andy. He was giggling at the end because he was having so much fun.

We went to the County Line for dinner and enjoyed BBQ and peach cobbler with blue bell ice cream. There was a live band outside on the river and Matthew liked watching the turtles and fish in the river. It was a beautiful view and the weather cooled down with a breeze. We love Austin!

We ate breakfast on Sunday at the hotel and then enjoyed the pool until time for checkout. We ate lunch at Flores where they had a playground attached to the restarant that was shaded by a big tree. I was telling Andy that it wouldn't be a trip to Austin without BBQ and Tex-mex. So many times while we were living in Chicago, we would visit Lori and my parents and enjoy the Austin cuisine. Of course, we would have to eat tums later to calm our stomachs...LOL

We had a long drive back to Dallas. We left around 1:30pm and arrived at our house around 7pm. The hotel was actually in Lakeway, Texas, so it was a little longer than our normal Austin drive. We also had to stop multiple times to keep Matthew content. We stopped for ice cream in Salado and he was in a great mood after that. And we ate dinner at a Denny's in Waxahachie. Matthew traveled well in the car and I was in the back seat trying to keep him occupied. I gave him my makeup bag at one point and he had a few spots of makeup on his forehead. He even put the eye lash curler up to his eye. He was having fun imitating mama.

The trip to Austin was fun but it was a whirlwind trip. I don't recommend to travel Sat and then turn around and travel Sunday. Next time we will make sure to spend more time there. Memorial weekend is coming up and we are heading to Vermont for a wedding. Andy and I are looking forward to a trip by ourselves in the beautiful Vermont area. Nanna, Papa, and Mike will be watching Matthew at our house and bringing Mike's dog, Roxy. They plan to go to the zoo and hang out in the pool. It should be a fun weekend for them.