Austin.

Vacation time!! Grant and I wanted to take a short vacation before I have to start back to work in a week. We decided to go to one of our favorite places for the weekend, Austin! This was our first time to be away from Jaxon for more than 1 night. I was sad to leave him but knew he was in good hands with Nana watching him! Here is our trip broken down. Most of these pictures were taken with our iPhones so they may not be the best.


Friday:
We left for Austin around 10:00 am and made it to Austin for a late lunch. We decided while we were in Austin we were going to try and only eat at local Austin restaurants. Our first stop when we got to Austin was at Stubbs. I have been there for concerts before but never to eat. Grant had never been there before we decided to try it for lunch. They have great barbecue!!





After lunch we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown. Here was our view.


We took a short nap and then enjoyed our free happy hour. That was one of the main reasons we stayed at Embassy Suites! Later in the evening we walked downtown and spent some time visiting different bars. One stop we made was to B.D. Riley's. They have the best grilled chicken quesadillas I have ever had! Grant enjoyed trying new beers.



We visited a few other places including a bar called Treasure Island. It was HORRIBLE. We went there because drinks were cheap. What we didn't know was that hey had a $15 credit card minimum. Grant ending up buying a beer and giving it away so we could leave. Don't go there!



Saturday:
We woke up and went to Grant's favorite Austin restaurant for lunch, Hula Hut!


Grant loves his Tubular Taco!


After lunch we went to a fun store to buy local Austin gear, Tyler's. It turned out they were selling limited edition Tyler's Toms. We stood in line for about 20 minutes but I was able to get a pair!



We bought a few things at Tyler's and then it was on to Amy's Ice Cream. I had never been there before but always wanted to try it.


By this time Grant and I need a nap so we headed back to the hotel and stayed there until happy hour. After that we headed to the Congress Avenue bridge to watch the bats. At dusk each night around 1.5 million bats fly from under the bridge. This was our first time to see the bats. It was amazing!

The crowd waiting for the bats to start flying.







For dinner Saturday night Grant and I walked around downtown until we found a place that not only served alcohol but also food. We ended up at a place called Buffalo Billiards. There were some serious Foosball players having a tournament. I had never seen anything like it. People actually brought there own straps to wrap around the handles. Why don't they just wear gloves?



Sunday:
Grant and I started the day late with a trip to Cain and Abel's for lunch.


The evening before, Grant and I had taken a pedicab to our hotel. The guy driving told us about shopping on South Congress. We had never been there before so we decided to go. We spent some time walking around and saw a bunch of neat little shops. We walked around for about an hour but had to leave because it was hot! We headed back to the hotel and hung out in the room until happy hour. Later in the evening we headed to McCormick and Schmicks for our last dinner in Austin. The restaurant was almost empty so it was a nice quiet dinner.

Grant was really excited about his Flounder.


The dessert was the BEST I had ever eaten at a restaurant. It was a Chocolate Truffle Cake with Raspberry Sauce. Yummy!! After dinner we walked around and visited some shops. We picked up a gift for Jaxon and then headed back to the hotel.



We had a great trip to Austin! We can't wait to go back and take Jaxon with us.

Fun times in Shreveport!

Ready for our 3 hour drive to Shreveport!


Our trip to Shreveport was a success! Jaxon got to see his Nanny and Paw paw and we had a great time! We got their Thursday night around 8:00 pm. On our way into Louisiana we stopped and took a picture at the Louisiana travel center. We found a neat sign that was a cut out of the state.




We got to Nanny's house and Jaxon got to spend some time with them before going to bed.





Bedtime was a disaster!! Jaxon was awake for about an hour just sitting in his pack and play and then he started to scream! He was exhausted but didn't want to sleep. He screamed for about an hour before finally going to sleep. Grant and I got to sleep on a couch and a chair in the living room so we wouldn't wake up Jaxon.

On Friday Nanny cooked us a delicious breakfast and then we went to the Louisiana Board Walk in Bossier City.


We had lunch at our favorite restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings. While we were there we gave Jaxon his first taste of lemon water. I don't think he liked it!



After we finished there we walked around and went shopping for a little while. On our way home we stopped by Liquor Town (very classy) and saw a bunch of police cars and a guy being arrested. Apparently someone had robbed a near by corner store and we saw them arresting the guy.




We went back to Nanny's house and spent the rest of the day relaxing. For dinner Grant picked up some yummy seafood! We had fried catfish, fried trout, and fried oysters. You can't get seafood that good and cheap in Dallas! Paw Paw saved everybodys leftovers for a raccoon and kitten in the area that he likes to feed. Jaxon got to see his first raccoon!




Saturday we we woke up early and headed home. As we crossed into Texas we wanted to stop to take pictures but Jaxon was asleep and we did not want to wake a sleeping baby. He actually slept most of the way home which made our trip home very easy. We made it home around 12:00 pm and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Overall, the trip to Shreveport was fun and I know Nanny and Paw Paw really enjoyed seeing Jaxon. We can't wait to go back!

Here are some other good pictures of Jaxon with Nanny and Paw paw: