Thursday, July 05, 2007

4th of July

Since the 4th was on Wednesday and Steven only gets off for the one day, Bailey and I went to Austin to spend the day with him so he wouldn't have to make the drive and be exhausted or spend the day alone.

We went up Tuesday after we got up and got ready. It rained off and on the entire trip and was supposed to rain all week. Steven got off work early so by the time we got there, he was at the trailer already and I didn't go to Ginger's (shucks!). I did need to go to a bigger teacher supply store than the one in CS so we did that and went to Hobby Lobby and grocery shopping. By that time it was time to eat and settle in for the night.

Wednesday morning, Steven had promised me breakfast at Waffle House (Mmmm...). There's one right across the street from the trailer park but the line was to the door. We drove over (in the rain) to the one on 290 but the line was to the door there also. We went back did something (can't remember what) and then went back to the one by the park. There was a table available so we got to eat. It was lunch time by now but it doesn't matter, we always get the same thing. :) Bailey ate 3 pieces of sausage and a grilled cheese. I didn't think he was ever going to get full!

Since it was raining and the trailer is so small, we decided to head to the mall to walk. Bailey had the best time just riding the escalators and looking in all the windows and walking around. I did some teacher clothes shopping at Penny's (they had a great sale).

We wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens but they were closed. :( We went to the complex where Steven's office is and fed the ducks and fish. Bailey didn't like the geese, he said they were too loud. He loved the fish though, they would swarm when we threw food. After we ran out of food and were just walking, it appeared that they were following us, it was really cool! We climbed the stairs through the "jungle" to the actual building where Steven works. There are some cow sculptures there and Bailey "rode" one of them. Then we had to follow the path of the water to the fountain until we found the beginning. Then it was time to head back down the path. Since it had been raining, the path was slippery. Bailey had a "fake" fall and grandma had a real fall. Nothing hurt though.

After that, we headed over to the Nature Conservatory. We hiked forever it seemed. It says there are 2.5 miles of trails but it sure seemed like we did more than that. we went up and down hills and did lots of what Bailey called "exploring". We saw a rabbit and a deer and a waterfall. Bailey says that rabbits aren't aminals (his pronouncation). Only things like tigers and elephants are aminals. The reindeer (Bailey's word) that we saw stood and looked at us for the longest time. She was absolutely beautiful with huge brown eyes. She was about the distance from our house to about 3/4 the way to the street from us. After we watched her for the longest time, Bailey and I crept torwards her until she ran off. Bailey said she was going to her little boy down the hill. By the time we found the waterfall and started back, dusk was coming and we were hungry. We were also sweating like pigs and grandma and grandpa were tired. It was really tough making that last climb!

We went back to the trailer and grilled steaks and had shells and cheese and asparagus with some watermelon. It was delicious! We headed to the fireworks. Originally we were going to stop somewhere on Riverside Drive and watch them from a parking lot so we didn't have to deal with the crowds and traffic. That didn't really work so we headed closer. We crossed the river and exited. I saw a good vantage point so we parked and headed off. We had a great view at the Mexican American Cultural Center. There were only about 4 families there so no crowds and we missed all the traffic. Bailey didn't want to hear the loud noise and we didn't except for some people lighting Black Cats close by.

We had a wonderful day and didn't spend a penny except for some drinks and gas. Bailey had a great time (he wants to go explore some more) and so did we.

I wanted to take him to the capitol building today before we left but it was raining and we wouldn't have been able to see the statues out front so we'll save that for another trip. (I know, you're all groaning but I love the capitol building and can't wait to introduce to another generation).

Bailey goes home tomorrow. :( We had a wonderful visit and I can't wait until he gets to come again (hopefully Christmas break).

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