Austin

For our 5th wedding anniversary we decided we wanted to take a weekend trip. Since we have been obsessed with Friday Night Lights, we have been longing to go to Texas. Since the show was filmed in Austin, we started looking into it. The more we looked into it, the more we knew we wanted to visit there. We were even considering a possible move!!! For some reason we kept having this feeling that we needed to check it out. It is rated one of the best places to raise a family! The thought of a move was exciting and sad at the same time. I have lived in CA all my life (except for a 9 month hiatus in Utah for one school year) and most of my family is still here along with Haws' parents. Leaving would be so so sad. But have you seen the kind of home you can afford in Texas? We could own a huge house with back yard for half of what we bought our townhouse for. The church is strong in Austin and there is a lot you can do for your kids there. We could have 4 kids no problem in Austin, but they would be away... far away... from Grandparents and cousins. We know some friends that have moved there and love it. Anyway, we loved Austin but we are NOT moving there. We both got our answer, we are not suppose to move. Not right now at least. The more I thought about it the more I realized how lucky we are to have our home (even though the back patio is not that great). We have 4 bedrooms and can easily stay here while having all the kids we plan to. We are blessed and I know I should be more grateful for all I have and not dwell on the size of my home or sports we are going to be able to afford to have our kids play. It will work out if we make it work out. I know Haws would like to live somewhere with more land and less crowds, but we could have that in south Orange County. I will stop ranting about this and get on to our trip.

Texans have Texas pride and these Texas stars are everywhere! People have them on their homes, their cars and just about anywhere you can display them. I think they are rather pretty :)

As we drove to our hotel, on of the first sites we saw was The Landing Strip! Is you are an SNL fan, you know this place. We were excited, but not enough to stop in. We had some addresses of the homes and sites from the show but didn't have a chance to go see them. 

Everyone said that a must eat BBQ place was Franklin's. I would have to agree. The line was 1.5 hours and so worth it! I got the brisket and turkey and both were delicious! People might make fun of me for getting the turkey, but even Haws said it was really good. The line went by fast as we made friends with the folks waiting in line with us. As we talked to people in Austin, you come to find out that most are not original Texans and are implants from places all over the country. That is probably one reason Austin is so much more Liberal compared to the rest of Texas. Funny example... as we waited in line, I picked up a local news paper (something more like the oc weekly) called the Onion. There was a story about a man who locked himself out of his house naked (who is ever out side of their house naked??? I think it was intentional) and could not get back in. Passerbys started to stop and a crowd gathered as he began speaking about how we are all naked in some ways (again... intentional). The picture on the front of the paper had someone strategically covering the mans "unit". I lost interest in the article and began reading an article about Anne Romney. As I turned to read the rest of her article I was shocked to see a full-frontal shot of the guy who had locked himself out of his house! He was posed as if he was not ashamed to show of his "goods". I was disgusted. Haws was wondering what I was saying "oh gross!" about and he too was shocked. Just a little peek into the Austin openness I guess.

 The weekend we were there was also a Biker Ralley Race in Austin. There were bikers everywhere downtown! We went to the famous sixth street and got a good look at all the bikes.

We took a day trip to San Antonio and hit up the Temple, the Alamo, Riverwalk and visited with a friend. I think Haws and I both agree the Temple was a highlight to the trip. It is in a beautiful neighborhood and sits up in the hills. The Temple itself is beautiful. Great way to spend our anniversary.

After the Temple we visited one of Haws' friends from college and did the alamo and riverwalk. The alamo is small, but it was neat to see. Riverwalk is awesome. I highly recommend visiting it id you are in San Antonio. That night was one of the Kings championship games, so of course Haws had to watch it. We tried finding a cook place to watch the game, but because the basketball playoffs were going on, along with some big boxing fight, our choices were limited and we ended up at a buffalo wings place with a corner TV. Not the best way to spend your anniversary and I let Haws know he owed me :) The worst part was the Kings lost. The best part was I ran to a target and ended up finding a skirt I have been looking for! So I won that night :)

Sunday we meet friends for church and went to Torchy's Tacos. Another yummy place to eat in Austin.

After all of our fun we were so excited to get home to these guys. It was nice to get away just the two of us, but we missed them. Luckily they were in good hands and were good for my parents. We are so lucky we have parents that are willing to watch our kids for a long weekend! I think James had so much fun that even though he was happy to see us, he didn't want to leave Nana and Bop. He still wakes up on occasion asking for them :)