Austin Spring Break Trip

Spring was in the air, so Caleb and Mommy packed up and headed to Austin for a Spring Break extended weekend.  We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and left on a Tuesday afternoon.  It was great to see so many friends and family.  It is never long enough but we are grateful to be able to have the flexibility to take such a long vacation.  Below are a ton of pictures and a few sentences about what we were doing during our time in Austin (while it was snowing in Dallas).

We first stopped in Georgetown to meet Caleb's 10th cousin, Faith Isabelle, who was born on March 12th.  She was born at 2:09 am weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.  At her two week appointment she weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and is an inch longer.  She is a beautiful addition to the family and she is dearly loved. 

Julie discovered that Caleb LOVES the sand and did not want to leave it.

Not sure how these two toddlers managed to switch without any tears but they are already learning to share with each other!!

Christalyn and TJ are riding their bikes so well!!

We then rushed to Mimi and Papa's to unpack and get Caleb down for the night.  Julie then ran off to have dinner with a high school friend, Molly.  She is the owner of Vanilla Orchid, an online cafe and catering service in Austin.  Molly has so much wisdom and has been a dear friend of Julie's for years.   

Friday morning, started with a fun walk around the Arboretum with Katherine, a sweet friend from our Newly Married group in Dallas.  Katherine is a soon-to-be momma of a little boy.  We are excited to meet the little guy the next trip to Austin.  Caleb was up and down the many stairs, enjoying the fountain, making new friends, and keeping the pregnant Ms. Katherine very busy.

We then had a play date with Vicki and her two little kids (Samantha almost 3 years and Chase 11 months).  Vicki is a friend of Julie's from Craig's business school days in California.  Caleb again enjoyed the stairs, new toys, and even waking Chase up so that he could play with him.

After a nice nap we met at an amazingly HUGE Sandbox with Kristen and Landon.  Kristen is a friend of Julie's from middle school and high school drill team.  Landon is such a cutie (the precious one actually looking at the camera) and could teach Caleb a thing or two about his colors and new words he speaks daily.

Saturday morning Caleb played with Mimi while Mommy was at dance practice.  Julie's dance studio where she learned the foundation of her dance is having their alumni come back and dance at their Troupe Show in a few weeks.  It was SO much fun to get the group together again to laugh, attempt to dance, and reminiscence on old times.

The proud Great-Mimi holding her 5th great grandchild.  Isn't she stunning at 89 years old!

An afternoon at the Garcia's house and dinner with Craig's parents, Julie's parents, Grandmother, and Uncle Willie.  Caleb had so much fun at Gloria's with both of his grandparents.

Sunday we went to church at Mimi and Papa's church, a relaxing day at home, and then dinner with Megan and Lori, Julie's best friends from high school.  Caleb was quite the handful at Aunt Lou's house with all her "no touch" things, therefore no pictures were taken.

Monday morning we went to visit Julie's childhood best friend, Amy, and her beautiful baby girl, Anabelle, who was born on March 2nd.  She looked so peaceful, like a little doll.  Just love the newborn stage, how quickly they grow up!

Then Julie, her mom, and Caleb went to see all the changes of Julie's second home in college, the Alpha Delta Pi house.  It brought back so many wonderful memories and the changes all looked wonderful.  Caleb loved the 2 sets of stairs and hated leaving them plus the pretty girls he ran into along the way.

During Caleb's nap on Monday afternoon, Julie ran over to Craig's parent's new home.  It is so beautiful and they are so happy to have their dream home in Austin!

After nap we had a play date with the Ezell's, one of Craig's 9th grade guys family that moved to Austin last summer.  They are such generous hosts to let Caleb play with all their toys and sending a toys and clothes home with him.  Luke (6 1/2 years old) is a great playmate for Caleb and was reading him a story.  Madeline is so good with Caleb and we were sad to have missed Jake.  What a sweet family that has blessed our family with their prayers, encouraging words, and love. 

Caleb loved the horsey and Mrs. Ezell!  He also remembered the basketball hoop from his last play date at the Ezell's House.

A group of Julie's friends from middle school/high school Sundancers and their mom's got together for a dinner.  The mom's get together once a month and they were kind enough to plan this month around when Julie was in town.  It was so fun to see old friends and to see the bond of friendship that the mom's have continued to form!

Tuesday morning, we had one more stop... to kiss Aunt Jen and Baby Faith bye before heading home to see our greatly missed Dadda!

This is a sweet new thing that Caleb has been doing.  It is so sweet to have a wet, open-mouth kiss!!!

We had a wonderful time and wished it could have been longer.  Thank you Mimi and Papa for hosting us and being flexible with our whirlwind of 6 days!