Keeping Austin Weird Part Two

On Saturday we met up with my friend Shelli and her kids. I hadn't seen her since we moved nine years ago and it was fun to catch up and meet each other's kids! We went to Kerby Lane (because you can never have too much queso) at a location that had a playground. It is a genius idea because you can see the playground from the outside seating so we watched the kids play while we caught up! We hit up HEB on the way to lunch (because what trip to Austin is complete without a stop at HEB) where Dada looked at the fruit from home and Clara threw a tantrum because I wouldn't buy her plastic ice cubes. Emmett fell asleep on the way to HEB and stayed asleep for most of the time inside (sadly that was his morning nap). We then headed to Rudy's (apparently great if you like meat) to meet up with our friend from Peace Corps, Ellie, who just moved to Austin. Emmett managed to throw a giant jar of BBQ sauce on the floor where it shattered and made a giant mess (they were really nice about it) and the girls ate white bread, super buttery potatoes, and whipped cream (Clara made a sandwich with a potato in the middle of the bread). We hadn't seen Ellie since Honduras so it was great to catch up! We headed home with three overtired kids (Bayleaf was literally laying on the floor and rolling around) and they all took naps. When the kids woke up, we packed them into the minivan and headed to County Line BBQ for the rehearsal dinner. It was great watching all the second cousins play and catching up with our family. Aba has six brothers and sisters, but none of them live in California so we don't get to see them that often. All of the girl cousins were there and we haven't all been together in years! We attempted to get cousin and second pictures but by that time the kids were exhausted and wanted nothing to do with taking pictures so we went home and went to bed!

The Livingston brood

So tired

Before he threw the bottle

Lone Star beer

Hanging out with Ellie

"Get up Bailey!"

Mouthful of meat!

Five of the seven Petersens

6 of the 15 cousins

Emmett and Talitha

On Sunday we headed to Zilker Park to meet Carolyn and Ian and ride the Zilker Zephyr miniature train. We got there early to beat the heat and it was actually a nice ride and not too hot. Uncle Pete, Rikka, and Jordan joined us and we had fun on the train and in the nearby playground. Then we headed to the food trucks a couple blocks away where we endured the heat and humidity to get some delicious food. It was great to catch up with Carolyn and meet Ian (we were sad Baby Owen had to stay home) and to catch up with our family. We headed home for naps before the wedding and Dada and I went to Gordough's and got some amazing doughnuts and caught the end of a drag show! We headed to the wedding after naps but I'll do a separate post on that.

Rikka, Laurie, and Bayleaf with Jordan in the background

Carolyn and Ian

Monday was our last full day in Austin and we hit up a nearby splash pad. All three of the kids had a blast and I even thought the water felt great since it was so hot out. Emmett fell and smashed his head and nose on a granite bench, but didn't seem too hurt. We headed to lunch at Juan in a Million and had some great tacos! The kids and Aba and Tia took naps and Dada and I headed out to do some shopping and walk around downtown. After naps we hit up Amy's Ice Cream BEFORE dinner and the kids had fun playing with the inflatable cows. Clara and Bailey ate a little ice cream and Emmett screamed every time one of the cows got put out of his reach. We met up with Ethan for dinner at Trudy's and it was great to catch up and check one more restaurant off our list (we basically ate our way through Austin)! Bailey and Emmett could not handle dinner and Tia and Aba eventually took all of the kids outside for a walk. Poor Emmett was so tired from a week of not enough naps and screamed every time he saw me. 

Ethan!

Tuesday I dropped the Pack N Play off and said bye to Sarah. We had to check out at 11 but our flight wasn't until 6 so we hit up the children's museum. It was two stories of awesome and the kids all had a blast! Even Emmett found tons of stuff to play with. We went to lunch at Jason's Deli (our last place to check off) and then took the rental car back. The poor lady had to drop us off at the bus and Bailey screamed the entire trip and Emmett screamed for a couple minutes. Then, we were at the wrong bus stop and just missed the right bus (we watched it pass) so we had to wait a half an hour in the hot, humid, sun. Poor Tia is allergic to Texas and sitting in the heat made her rash even worse! We made it to the airport unscathed and started our trip home. We had a great time in Austin and got to see so many friends and family members! It has changed so much since we lived there!

Naps on the go 

Waiting for the bus