Armadillo XMas Bazaar

We definitely exerted some self control at the Christmas Bazaar!  They had everything and anything you could imagine from art to jewelry to furniture and much much more.  Some things were a little "unique" while others were just plain outrageous but it was great to take it all in. 

TexAversary

Another year in Texas, another celebratory meal at Salt Lick!  We couldn't have picked a better place for our first meal upon arriving in Austin and this is one tradition we will definitely keep up!!!

Disneyland

Experienced through the eyes of a 2 year old!  I flew into San Diego a little early so I could hit up Disneyland with the Bennett's before starting my work week.  It was a blast but exhausting, Reagan & Harper can definitely outlast me!  We covered a lot of ground from rides to parades but nothing more important than all the character autographs.  We left not only well after dark but well after my bedtime.  These kids are troopers!

Browns Backers

It's now a family affair ;)  Cali loves to show her team spirit as much as we do! 

Tree Lighting

So you'd think the lighting of the Capital Christmas Tree would be a pretty traditional and straightforward event, but not in Austin!  The tree itself was spectacular and they had a cool parade for the kids but the Carolers were just a little off.  It sounded just like your favorite carols but if you listened to the lyrics a little closer you realized that they were politically charged and not what you were expecting at all.  What can you expect, after all our slogan is Keep Austin Weird?!?!

Parents Week

We had a fun filled week with my parents, showing them some of our favorite spots in and outside of town! 

They arrived on Thanksgiving, which happened to be my bday this year, so we had a delayed Thanksgiving on Friday so we could cook and enjoy all our normal traditions together! 

Then not so normal for my parents we kicked off the Christmas season by decorating the house and triming the tree.  In my parents house they don't decorate the tree until Christmas Eve, which is a fun tradition in itself, but I'm too anxious and love to get the tree up right after Thanksgiving.  We had an eventful trip trying to get the tree though.  We drove out all the way to Eglin, TX so we could cut down our own tree only to find out due to the drought they didn't have any.   So we had to settle for just picking one up off the lot.  But we did score some cute XMas decorations at the same time so the trip wasn't a total bust.  We continued the Christmas activities with a play, Santaland Diaries, and heading out to Gruene Hall to get our picture with Cowboy Santa ;) 

We enjoyed many great meals while they were in town, even discovered our new favorite brunch spot, Moonshine Patio & Grill, and of course Salt Lick.  No trip to Texas is complete without some BBQ!  We toured different areas of town but they were all balanced out with a great restaurant or treat as well.  Pflugerville was paired with German Food, South Congress and Amy's Ice Cream, the Lake and Hula Hut, and even the Austin Duck Tours gave us more info on restaurants than actually history or facts.  Guess we Texans just love our food.  Maybe that's why everything is Bigger in Texas ;)

Before the week was over we also squeezed in some quality time over mani's/pedi's and relaxing time at the Wineries.  I wish every week was parents week!  Thanks for making the trek Mom & Dad, we had a blast!