Austin Daytrip

Last week we went to Austin for the day to meet up with KL and her kids to play. (Of course, J joined in the fun since she loves the kids and she lives in Austin.) KL is in the process of moving to Alaska, so she's temporarily living with her parents north of Austin. We thought it would be nice to get the kids together before they have to take off in a few weeks. Elina really misses M these days (no one else plays chase like M does)...and I'll really really miss KL when she takes off. However, from this collage below, I'm not sure how much Eli will truly miss P (M's little brother).

Since it's been so hot we decided to meet at an indoor playground. Despite all the wonderful outdoorsy things to do in Austin, we had to escape the heat! This playground was so much fun for the kids. There were bouncers of every size in every corner. Elina was so brave and went on a lot of the bouncers and went down tons of slides....even the steeper slides. We were so proud of her. She was willing to try anything. But if it got too crowded in a certain bouncer, she'd come right out and say, "I came out because there are too many people that aren't my friends." I guess that's her way of saying "strangers."
Eli, on the other hand, was a bit more reserved....which really boggled my mind since he's always climbing on everything at home and getting into trouble. When we're out in noisier, more crowded places, he tends to be less adventurous. He didn't have any interest in the steep slides, even when B or I went down with him. He didn't like to go into the bouncers if they were too bouncy. He also didn't like to go too far into bouncers either. So here's a video clip of Eli being "wild and crazy" at the indoor playground.

The thing that amazed me was how much energy the kids used up....and how thirsty they got! I brought 5 juice boxes and 2 sippy cups of milk and they went through everything by the time we left. I even had to buy one more juice box there because Elina was still thirsty. It was crazy! Because the place had so many big bouncers, they had a lot of big air blowers running and it made the place warm. Maybe that's why they were so thirsty.

We were there from 10:30am until 2pm. The kids had a blast and we'll definitely be going back there whenever we go back to Austin. (The picture to the left was the best group pic we could get. Awesome, right?? Our children are so good with cameras!)

When we left, Eli was beat. He had woken up early that morning, so he immediately passed out when we got into the car. Elina looked tired, but survived without a nap. It's amazing how long she can hold out.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out. We tried to give Eli a real nap in a portable crib, but he wouldn't have it. He cried for 10 minutes and then sat there sucking his thumb. Poor guy. So we just went to get delicious snocones at Sno-Beach. Then we went to hang out at a big toy store before we had dinner at Blue Star Cafeteria. We gave the kids quick baths at J's apartment, put the kids in PJs, and drove home. Eli slept the whole way. Elina watched Tinkerbell and then got really crabby. She's had issues with late nights. Remember that awesome flight back from the Bahamas late at night? Good times.

Now that Eli's at an easier age I think we can take more daytrips like this. It was fun and easy and the kids had a great time. I think J might be seeing more of us in Austin!