we left our hearts in Austin

Since the little rugrats entered the picture, we have had three overnight dates without kids. While they have each been glorious times that shall not be forgotten, they weren't ever supremely relaxing because we were so rushed and had one day. Labor day weekend was approaching and we realized Steve had 5 days off in a row. WHAT? We planned to take the whole family down to Austin to check it out and invited my siblings to come with. Janene and Aaron instead offered to watch Parker and Lyla and we go alone. HELLO. Sunday before leaving, Parker got sick, then a couple days later Lyla was sick. We were nervous the littles were going to rob us of our freedom, but they came through in the end and behaved. Friday I got us ready, went over to Janene's to set the kids up over there, double check she was ready for 5 kids under the age of three, Steve met me there, and we took off!

The roadtrip down was glorious. Lots of funyuns, diet coke, and singing Eve 6 and Collective Soul at the tops of our lungs.

We explored downtown a bit, grabbed a Gourdough's doughnut (meh), attempted to go to dinner at Hopdoddy's, but the line was horrendous so we skipped down to a Mexican joint instead.

The next morning we packed up for the day and headed out for some climbing in Barton Greenbelt. Being the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, there were lots of other climbers, but it wasn't too crowded. We chatted with a few others about Austin and got some tips on where else to go. Both of our hearts ached as it was so reminiscent of our Provo days up Rock Canyon. It felt so good to be back at it again!

Just a mile or two away was Barton Springs, a natural spring that was made into a pool. So the water is spring-cold (60s I think) and clear all year round. It was refreshing to say the least, but so incredibly cool! You can see the downtown Austin skyline in the background toward the right. We set up camp on the hill among everyone else and relaxed, swam, Steve did a couple flips off the diving board, and again, enjoyed doing whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. Insanely blissful.

We went to a late lunch at Kerbey Lane Cafe (delicious! and I am not that easily impressed!), headed back to the hotel, hung out at the pool for a bit, showered up and headed back out to get to this overlook before the sun went down. Two things. I've come to realize that my favorite vacations involve lots of activity during the day that doesn't require me to look good and have my hair done, then being able to get ready and relax with good food at night. And two, Austin is breathtaking.

A huge part of my heart used to be filled by music, live shows in small venues, and my favorite bands. That time of my life has passed unfortunately, and with the built-in babysitter and Austin's claim to fame, I was dying to see a show. This isn't exactly Steve's thing, but he indulged me and tagged along for the ride. There were a couple options we had, and I couldn't really decide being so unfamiliar with the area and out of the loop, I haphazardly picked Patrizi's food truck for dinner last-minute. Lo and behold, the food truck was parked next to a bar with an outdoor venue just outside of it. We sat and tolerated the music (lets just say I've had better), enjoyed the perfect weather, and again, did whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. #crucifictoriousrocks

Last full day, we woke up and threw our swimsuits on and headed out to Driftwood to get wet. First we went took a little drive through Texas Hill Country to The Blue Hole, another natural spring with clear, cool water equipped with rope swings and docks for playing like kids.

Steve again with the flips! I tried and tried and tried, but could not get a flip in. We'll just have to go back one day.

Steve eventually got bored with the flips, so he and a couple other guys started getting a running start and jumping for the swing, then flipping off. There was lots of applause for my man!

After a couple hours there, we drove about 10 minutes to Jacob's Well. You park in a parking lot and it's a 2-minute hike up and down some rocks and steps, then it opens up into this little oasis! It was kinda cramped, as there were a lot of people both in the water and surrounding the place to jump watching people timidly step off, and those brave enough to dive. Thankfully no one was crazy enough to flip, you had a pretty tight area where you could land, and you had to jump out a little to miss hitting the wall you were standing on.

Literally decided last second to dive. Phew! I certainly didn't see any other girls diving...

After a rough morning of playing hard in the water, we drove another 10 minutes to Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood. The wait was literally 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon and it felt like 100 degrees out, so after a lot of people watching, country music-listening, and lemonade-sipping, we got in the to-go line, ordered our food, and sat out in the country eating amazing BBQ. It was wonderful.

Went back to the hotel, showered up, and went to check out the wall art on Baylor Street.

Then to dinner for burgers and fries on the dock at Ski Shores Cafe. At sunset. The drive down to this place through the rolling, green hills of the most beautiful part of Austin really hit home to us that we want to be here. Forever. Maybe one day...

After dinner we went to Bee Cave to meet one of Steve's friends, Rob, to catch up and chat about the area. They're big fans.

Our last morning of freedom! We spent it climbing, naturally, in Reimer's Ranch. After a little detour-of-a-hike, we found where we wanted to be and climbed on! We were all alone with Pandora on my phone, chalk on our hands, and the wall all to ourself. It was glorious, and definitely did not feel like we were in Texas.

After climbing we drove down the road to Hamilton Pool. After a 5-minute hike down, it opened up to this! Unfortunately the water was closed off due to bacteria levels. Steve stopped the park ranger on a power trip and quizzed her as to why exactly the pool was closed, what bacteria was high, how they measure it, etc. No surprise there. It was still beautiful, but probably not worth a 2-hour wait it's been known to have.

We sadly got back on the road after a stop to eat, and a stop at a Lens Crafters to check out the local optometry scene. We were excited to get back and see our littles, but immensely enjoyed being alone together! Can't wait for our next trip!