In Houston!

So,
   There have already been 2 family posts about this portion of our road trip but I'll add ours.
We set out for Houston around the midpoint of the trip. It is about a 3 hour drive from Austin to Houston. It's some nice texas back country small town stuff. We arrived in Houston at Kirk and Gretchens house where everyone including Dan, Kristen and Fam was waiting for us. Z and A were incredibly excited to play with their cousins. We ate sweet potato burritos which we liked so much we have adopted it in our rotation. The cousins played a game which was utterly dominated my sam like 2006 Ray Lewis lining em up and knocking them down. Some pics below related, some not. All cousins.

We woke up the next morning and set out for the Houston Children's' museum. It was by far the best childrens museum we've been to. It was full of science, crafts, fun, and info. Our kids had a great time.

They got fake money cards to use in the fake city. Teach em to spend early!

Aidens famous shy face.

Catching fish in techno africa.

Not a very happy kitty.

Building an air rocket.

Plotting her course of action.

Cash money.

Observing

"DAD! THAT LADY HAS A BROOM. SWEEP SWEEP!!!"

what can go wrong?

huh?

strut.

We met Kirk for lunch at Smashburger and ate delicious hamburgers and shakes. Then went to Kristens pool and swam before dinner at the Durst house.
   The next morning we set out for Austin and I managed to talk Kristen, Gretchen and their kids into coming halfway there with us and touring the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. Its a 30 minute tour with a large scoop of ice cream for everyone at the end. Next time I go to Houston I might do it all over again, the Ice cream is really good.

Pre Tour superhero sighting

Cousins ready for a scoop of Ice cream!

Free hats can be endlessly entertaining.

uh...

There was no photography allowed on the tour. Like wonka they don't want slugworth to get their secrets... so. After the tour we ate!

After the tour we posed for family shots with a statue of the Blue Bell Icon. I took some shots of Gretchen and kids which are here... Here are some of our family.

We had a great time in Houston and it was great to see everyone. The tour was fun. We parted ways and headed back to Austin to finish up our trip. Stay tuned for that.

RTSZA

First Half of Austin.

So,
Finally we arrived in Austin. Our gracious hosts Joe, Heather, Logan, and Austin let us in with open arms. Z  and A had a lot of fun with the boys and Sam even had some playmates in Mia and Ruth (dogs).

   We went swimming at the community pool the first day (I think). The next day we set out for the State capital. As much as the rest of Texas apparently mocks Austin it is the capital and darned proud of it.
The grounds were lovely even if it was 100+ and humid.

Zoey and Logan trying to get a drink, or wet.

Austin. In Austin.

Quality for the many humorous faces.

Quality for the haircut.

More quality faces!

Don't mess with the woman behind the CANNON!

There's a lady with a star up there!

Once inside the air conditioned capitol building we let our kids loose on the halls of law.

What good is a big room if you can't play chase?

Stairs are great for wearing out children.

That's a long way up.

The top.

Eventually we checked out a few of the actual historical/ relevant parts of the building.

Zoey is unimpressed.

Aiden is unimpressed.

That man is unimpressed.

EVERYWHERE I GO!!!

The "boring stuff" wore down the kids quick. Time for food! Heather always had tasty snacks so now our kids want tasty snacks! NEWMAN!

Once we had seen all there was to see in the capital we headed over to a museum about Texas with more interactive types of things for the kids to do.

Kids loves peekaboo.

When in Texas...

Yep.

A triptych of epic-ness.

Add caption

We ate amazing BBQ at The Salt Lick that night.
The next day we set out for a local splash pad.

These kids love water now.

Then we ate lunch at whole foods. They have a really good sandwich bar. There is a list of probably 35 different kinds of spreads, meats, cheeses, and vegetables that you get to choose from. T was adding so many that the lady behind the couter was visibly upset the sandwich wouldn't hold together. If it's all included in the one price I say get what you pay for! The kids liked lunch there.

Some time in there the kids played fort, dress up, and had a blast with Logan and Austin and a whole house full of new toys.

We woke up on Sunday and wanted to wear the kids out before we set out for Houston so we loaded up the van and drove down to a local landmark.

  Hamilton Pool (google image it. the pictures are a lot better than mine). Austin-ites really love the outdoors and I can see why. This place is a huge hole in the earth with cliffs around it and waterfalls, it's a giant swimming hole. The crowds were a bit annoying but the place was great. I would love to come here when it wasn't so crowded. I think I like swimming holes. I remember party rock in Kings Canyon so fondly, there's something nice about non chlorinated swimming.

Look what fun my kids are having!!!

What a beautiful place to take a swim. 

It was a it crowded on the tiny beach.

The kids were thoroughly worn out after a morning full of swimming and hiking so we loaded up the galant and headed out to Houston Texas for the next leg of our amazing whirlwind Texas adventure! Which will have to wait until the next update...

Till Next Time.

RTSZA