Cowboy Up

What's the first thing you do when you arrive in Texas?!?! Get a pair of Cowboy Boots!!! Just weeks after being in Austin we had our friends from Virginia come visit to ring in the New Year. We picked them up at the airport and immediately went out for TexMex and margarita's followed by boot shopping. A true Texas experience!

We had such a large group for New Years that it took two houses to sleep everyone. The Ford Crew came in from NC and stayed at the Richards while the VA Crew took shelter at our house, it was kids vs. adults ;) The Fords arrived earlier in the week and again our first stop was TexMex and margarita's. We have found the best replacement for Rio, don't get me wrong I'm dying to go back home for it but in the meantime we'll enjoy the Wave at Pappasitos. They even have a DJ in the parking lot to keep you entertained while you wait because this place is so popular!

So what's the next most important thing in Texas besides cowboy boots?!?! Guns! One of Shaun's favorite things about Austin is that there is a shooting range just down the street. I'm not a huge fan at all but thankfully Mike and Shaun share the same hobby, so off they went.

Now that everyone had a true Texas experience, it was time to put our cowboy boots to the test. We started the night off with a pre-party at the Richards but ended the evening with a little Boot Scootin Boggie. That's right what better way to ring in New Years than at a true honky tonk! It was fabulous; two step, party hats, and $7 pitchers!

We kick started New Years Day off with a champagne brunch at home and ended it with Game Night but in-between we managed to venture out into Hill Country. It was a scenic drive that lead us to the best destination in Texas...Salt Lick BBQ. There are definitely a lot of BBQ rivalry's in town but this is one of our favorites!

Then came Sunday FunDay!!! We spent the morning at the park with the kids and then ventured downtown for the Browns Game. Needless to say in turned into a 6th Street Bar Crawl from there. We picked up some friends along the way and stopped for dinner but we made sure to hit all the hot spots in the process. Top Night!

Monday was our day to play tourist. We started off with the grand idea of taking a bike tour around Lady Bird Lake but instead that turned into a walking tour around the city, either one is a winner if you ask me. We checked out Lance Armstrong's Bike Shop, the Lake, Boutiques, and the grand finale was the State Capital, so impressive!

All good things must come to an end but we had one last thing to celebrate before the vacation was over, Virgina Tech made it to the Orange Bowl! We had our own Tech cheerleader on hand to keep our spirits up but I think along with her bedtime went to the chances of a Hokie victory. Oh well, there's always next year!

Thanks everyone for making the trip to Texas! It really helped make the transition to Austin that much easier, it felt just like we were at home!