The Capital of Texas

This weekend, we ventured back to the capital of Texas...the place where Daddy and I met and fell in love (what memories!!) We hadn't been back since we evacuated for Hurricane Ike. This might have been the longest we have been without a trip to Austin since college. Our friend, Andy, is a dentist and was kind enough to agree to see James to determine if he needed some work done on his teeth as recommended by our dentist in Houston.  

Friday

Friday at 3:30am, Mommy had to take Ngoai to the airport to catch her flight to see Papa in St. Croix for two weeks. We had thought about leaving as soon as I got back from the airport, but James had stayed up late finishing some work stuff. So, we just let everyone sleep in. We finally got on the road around 8am after grabbing some breakfast for the road. Andrew was amazingly good in the car considering he didn't sleep a wink. As I was driving, Daddy was in back with Andrew and did a great job of playing with him and reading to him. Andrew was also greatly entertained by all the trucks he saw out the window and his CD.

We finally got to Austin; and Andrew was happy to see Uncle Anh Tuan. We hung out for a while, but then it was for Daddy to head to Andy's office and for Andrew to take his nap. After he woke up, we headed to Toys R Us with Uncle Footon for some toys including gifts for Peter and Kathryn (and a few Thomas trains for Andrew that were on sale). By that time, Daddy was headed home. Then, we went over to Uncle John's house for dinner. Peter and Kathryn were very good about sharing their toys with Andrew and had even picked some out to give to him since they had outgrown them. So sweet!! Peter also put on a performance for us of songs he learned while at Vacation Bible School. We also headed outside to the backyard where Andrew was even more stimulated by more toys, their playground, and a trampoline! I wasn't sure if Andrew would like the trampoline, but he loved it! He immediately climbed in and began walking and bouncing around. It was dinner time; the meal was delicious! But Andrew was wanting to play more so he didn't want to sit at the dinner table for too long. After even more playing after dinner, it was time to get home and put Andrew to bed. We had another fun-filled day planned for tomorrow--we all needed some rest.

Saturday

The morning started with going to a park nearby to Uncle Foo's house where they had their own little water playscape. Andrew was too funny. At first, he was reserved and stayed close by, but then started to get into things. But I really think he was more into watching the other kids at first. But then before you knew it, he was walking and running through getting soaked. One of the cutest moments was when Andrew was troubled by a little girl sitting on one of the sprouts. He tried to move her out of the way (but not in a mean way). I think he didn't know where the water was and was trying to find it.  

After the park, we went home to clean up and headed out to lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers with Uncle John, the two kids, and Nonna. Yummy! Afterwards, we went back to Foo's to put Andrew down for his nap while Daddy headed to Granddad's for a little while to see Aunt Janine and her family. Then, Daddy came back to pick us up for dinner at Z Tejas.  A delicious meal; and it was great to be with the family! Afterwards, we headed back to John's house to play with the kids and hang out for the rest of the night. When we got to the house, he immediately pointed upstairs. He remembered where those toys were! Before we knew it, it was getting too late and Andrew was getting tired. He must have been worn out because he slept until 7am in his playpen that night! Lucky for me because I ended up not feeling well and running a fever that night.  

Sunday

When I woke up, I felt much better (I think I broke the fever around 2am). We got ready and headed over to Uncle John's for some family time before church at 10am.  The three of us sat in the cry area and rightfully so. Andrew didn't want to sit still. We looked at books and walked around, but that didn't do it. Finally, we had to let him play trains. James and I hoped that Andrew would keep the trains by our two seats, but nope, no luck there either. He took his trains under the seats of the couple in front of us, then under our seats into the walkway. I didn't want to block people's way so I moved his trucks over next to a wall.  The toys made Andrew a popular kid in the cry area. Other kids wanted to play with them as well. Well, after mass was over, we went to Granddad's for brunch--again, another great meal. Andrew faired better than I thought with all of Granddad's cool (and breakable) stuff! It was 2pm and way past Andrew's nap. As we headed back to Foo's, we was asleep in less than five minutes into the drive. Then, he proceeded to take over a two and a half hour nap. He was setting all kinds of records for sleeping in his play pen this weekend!  

Well, the monster nap put us a little behind schedule for the rest of our day. But fortunately, it all worked out. After his nap, we headed to Aunt Kelly's house. Mommy hadn't seen Kelly in so long--way too long. Andrew immediately took a liking to both Kelly and her dog, Frank. He gave Uncle Mike the wag of the finger, but later, warmed up to him. He loved playing with Frank. One of the cutest things is that he would sit on the stairs and then pat a spot next to him for one of us to sit. He even tried to get all four of us to sit together. Too sweet! We weren't able to stay near long enough, but it was great to see them. Thanks for letting us do a hit and run visit, Kel!

The next stop of the day was Uncle John's firehouse. When we got Andrew out of the car, he started pointing to the fire trucks right away. He was mesmerized. However, he did end up being scared of how loud the engine was and sitting in the truck itself. But he wanted back for more and more. It was nice to spend some more time with Uncle John and see the fire house. Thanks so much, Uncle John! I really think that was the highlight of his day!!  

After the firehouse, we met Uncle Foo, Rob and his wife, Kristina at Chuys for dinner. Yes, it was another great meal, but since we have one here in Houston, it wasn't as special. But it was special because of the company. It was good to see Rob and Kristina and of course, having Uncle Footon around is always good! Andrew had been eating okay the whole weekend, but tonight was the best. He totally ate up all his mac and cheese and then polished off his cheese quesadillas. Andrew also had some of Uncle's chicken and our steak too.  

After dinner, we drove back to Foo's and quickly packed and got in the car. We didn't get home until after midnight. Andrew stayed awake for the forty-five minutes of our trip (I thought he was surely going to be out in less than fifteen), but slept the rest of the way.  

It was a great weekend--crazy busy, but totally fun. It was wonderful seeing all the family and friends that we were able to see! I think we just need to come visit Austin more often so we don't have to pack so much in while we are there!