TEXAS!!!!

For Labor Day weekend we flew down to Austin to visit James and Allison. They live in Round Rock about 30 minutes outside of Austin. We had a really fun long weekend. Dad and Robyn went down to Dallas for the weekend and were in Austin with us a couple of the days. We were able to do a lot of things in the few days we were there. Thanks James and Allison for being such great hosts. We had a great time.

Our first views of Austin

The state capitol (largest in the country)

On Saturday we went to Sea World. We were afraid it was going to rain on us, but it only sprinkled for about 5 minutes the whole day. There was so much to do and we didn't get to it all. It was a very fun day.

This is where you can feed the dolphins

Shawn loved being so close to the fish


Sharks

more fish

There is a big water park that is part of Sea World. It had lots of rides, play areas for the kids, lazy river, wave pool, etc. This was the highlight of the day for Shawn. He just loves swimming.

The boys loved the waterpark

pretty fancy tricks

Shamu

Shawn was completely worn out by about 7 PM

The entrance

Touring Austin Texas

We hiked up to the top of this "mountain". James told us it was 99 stairs, but was actually 103 stairs. I was not planning on the extra 4 steps. It was a very quick and fun hike to see the views.

The boys made it. Congratulations!

You can barely see downtown Austin in the background

The gang at the top. Robyn was taking the picture

View of the neighborhood along the river

You are all welcome to come visit us when we live in this house
or this one....

or this one. We haven't decided on one just yet.

After the hike we went downtown to see the bats. You may ask, why would you want to go see bats. That is what I said at first. Under this bridge there lives somewhere between 1-3 MILLION bats. They all come out right after sunset every night. We didn't get any great photos of the bats, but it was pretty cool.

This is simply to show you the crowds on the bridge not to show you our beautiful faces.

Jon and I thought this building was really cool until James said they call it the noseclipper. Thanks for ruining it.

Downtown Austin

Grandpa, Shawn, Uncle James

All the boats waiting to see the bats

The round rock that Round Rock is named after. This was a very exciting detour. Thank you James and Allison for taking us here.

Bull statue by the Round Rock

Day in San Antonio

For Labor Day we drove down to San Antonio. We first visited the Alamo and went for a little tour of that. Then we went down to a place called the River Walk. It is a river in the middle of the city with restaurants, hotels, and shops lining it. It was very beautiful and lot of fun. We ate lunch right along the river after the boat tour.

The Alamo

Shawn enjoyed the grass the most at the Alamo

James wore his belt buckle for the occasion
There were lots of water features around San Antonio

James and Allison on River Walk boat tour

Jon and I on the tourAnother water feature

This building looked like it was a freestanding wall

Grandpa holding Shawn on the boat tour

I bet Jon will love that I included this photo

Trying on hats

Random Fun Pictures

Maybe he will be an architect

Sporting the animal hats Grandma West gave him
James and Shawn in Mr. Potatoe head glasses (James kept them on for about 40 minutes)
When we went out to lunch Shawn and James kept dancing to the music at the restaurant. I missed their best moves. Every time Shawn would stop James would insist "Shawn dance....Shawn dance!)