Keeping Austin Weird

We drove to Austin last Tuesday & spent a few days for the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. It was the first time my sister hosted us for a holiday & she did great! The girls loved playing & spending extra time with their cousins. Natalie & Daniel had a fun filled day around Austin on Wednesday however, I don't have many pictures to show for it because Natalie took them all! First, they took the kids to a "famous" mural that you probably recognize:

 

Apparently, there are murals painted all over town, but we only had time to hit up one. I think the kids might have gotten bored if we took them to all! Then we headed to Zilker Park. I have always heard of Zilker Park but have never been there. Nat & Dan have taken the kids there several times to play, but they had never rode the train before:

 

 

Let me tell you, this $2 train ride was well worth it. It was a lot longer than I thought & it was pretty scenic. It went along the river & under a bridge. Of course she got a great shot of our whole family on the train together, so you'll have to check her blog to see it. The kids also had fun playing at the play ground & they got to meet a clown who made them each a balloon animal. Mimi & Doc really spoiled the kids!

 

Next, we headed to the food truck park for lunch. We were so excited to eat & then realized about half of the food trucks were closed due to Thanksgiving. That's ok, we still had a good meal from the ones that were open & the kids loved running around. And it was Mimi & Doc's first experience eating at a food truck!

 

Finally, we took the kids shopping at the $1 store & let them each pick out Christmas decorations. There are random trees decorated all over Austin & you can see them just about anywhere you drive. That's the beauty of Austin - they have all sorts of weird traditions! We stopped at a random spot where other trees were decorated & let the kids decorate their own. It was fun - even I hadn't done anything like that before!

 

On Friday, it was cold & raining so Mimi treated the kids to a movie. We went to see The Good Dinosaur & I believe all of the kids liked it:

 

 

Yes, they all got their own snack pack - Mimi spoiled them again! It's fun now that the kids are all getting old enough to do fun activities like this. We even had a fun Thanksgiving starting with a Turkey Trot & ending with a football game. I'll post pictures from our turkey day tomorrow :)