South Llano State Park & Austin Texas & Magnolia Silos

It was a LONG drive to South Llano State Park! Driving at night allowed us to see tons of nocturnal animals, including an armadillo! We pulled into the site at midnight. Thankfully Ryan was still awake, and was a trooper helping me get everything set up in the dark.

The next morning it was HOT by the time we woke up at 8:30. I had planned a hike for us, but with the heat and NM souvenir sunburns we weren’t up for it. The state park was gorgeous, I would definitely stop there for longer if we are ever in the area again. We took a short walk and then started our drive to Austin. 

The drive to Austin was full of bucolic views, wildflowers and cows galore! I wanted to stop and take pictures constantly, but there weren’t good places to pull over and,  pictures taken at 75mph don’t turn out great. When we arrived in Austin we got Ruby situated at a La Quinta and headed to my cousin, Danielle’s. Her apartment complex was having a pool party with live music, free food and drinks! The kids had a great time swimming and it was nice to catch up and have some adult conversation! 

In typical Ryan fashion, he picked up the hover board quickly.  

Danielle and Ella are two peas in a pod! 

Ryan was impressed with the Texas waffles at La Quinta!  After he had put syrup on it I broke it to him that it was backwards:)

We randomly stopped at a restaurant named the Kitchen, it was amazing! 

We got to visit with Carl's Aunt Peg. She is a jazz pianist and Ryan really enjoyed playing with her. We got to hang out with her daughter, Sarka, and her family. That evening we all went to an Italian restaurant where Peg was performing.  She called Ryan up to play with her for a bit, which was fun!  

We spent the night in Peg's driveway. The next morning we spent hours in Zilker Park. I LOVE when cities have huge parks. We walked a lot, played at playgrounds and found food truck park for lunch. 

We spent much longer at the park than we expected.  Afterwards we met back up with Danielle. We all went to Rudy's BBQ. It was the best bbq we have had so far! Then we rushed off for our boat tour where we got to watch 1.5 million bats fly out from under a bridge. 

The tour guide told us that it's lucky to get peed and pooped on by bats.  Ryan got SUPER lucky ;)

Our last morning in Austin we enjoyed breakfast tacos at Taco Deli. I can't wait to come back to Austin with Carl!

Driving through Waco, we HAD to stop at the Magnolia Silos! The kids were not impressed. I thought it was neat, but it would be much more fun with sisters instead!

We randomly stopped at another great restaurant!  The salads were delicious, and Ryan said it was one of the best burgers he has ever had (and he has had a lot of burgers lately!)