Vacations in Disguise

Vacation 1: Natchitoches, LA (pronounced NAK-uh-tush)

Paxton and I visited his dad and uncle for the weekend.  We got there Friday late night, then Paxton was up by 6am ready to help Jerry work at his new business - a scrap metal yard.  They worked non-stop from 7:30a to 2p!  I thought they would be home sooner than that, so I slept in a little, watched a bit of television, and hung out outside and by the river.  While strolling along the river bank, I heard something moving in the big long grass.  I looked over to where the sound was coming from, and saw a huge, thick alligator tail crawling back into the river!!!  Yikes!  I was actually super excited, not really scared, though I guess I should've been, I just didn't think they would attack me, plus I wasn't expecting alligators to be in that river!!!   I was poking around the grass and water for more animals to come out of there-- nothing came out.  I would hear a lot of movement, but didn't see much else except like 20 geckos.  I at least got a pic of that .. and the river.  We also went out to eat and drove thru the small town of Natchitoches. It was raining, so we couldn't walk.  It's such a pretty tourist town and college town.  For those of you who've seen the classic movie Steel Magnolias would like to go to this town and see the house where they filmed that movie!  We didn't get a chance to go inside, but it is now a Bed & Breakfast house, along with many other houses around the town.  It was really a beautiful town and a very relaxing weekend.  We had lots of fun- Thanks Jerry!  It was like a vacation in disguise!

This is the view from Jerry's porch.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.  I loved it.  

Vacation 2: Austin, TX (pronounced AWE-sten)
This past weekend we visited my uncle, aunt, cousins, and Grandma.  My aunt & uncle live off of Lake Travis in the suburb of Austin called Lago Vista.  It was, again, so peaceful and calm.  I had never been to their home, and I hadn't seen that family for probably 8-10 years!! We walked around a really cool park, and they took us to the Whole Foods Marketplace, which was amazing.  We loved it so much we went there again the next night!!  It was so good to see my family and visit. My cousin's birthday was celebrated this same weekend, so we went to Kobe, a very entertaining Japanese cuisine where they cook your food in front of you on a huge grill, and they cook it with various tricks and cool beats!  It was really fun!!  

 So we said goodbye to the family we'd been visiting and spent Sunday evening together in downtown Austin.  We went to the Congress bridge at sunset where we watched thousands of bats flying out across the river, forming huge black clouds in the sky.  It was amazing that they were continuously splurging out from underneath the Congress bridge.  After about 15 minutes, we walked away while the bats were still flying out!  It was amazing!  

Before visiting the bats, we walked down Congress street to the state Capitol building.  We walked around inside and took a few pictures outside.  It's a HUGE building and very beautiful.

Downtown Austin is a really great place to walk around.  We had a great time, and was yet another vacation in disguise!

What's a trip without a silly picture of Paxton??

Here at Kobe is where we celebrated Jessica's birthday- the birthday girl is the curly-haired one in front. On the far right is my mom's brother, Clay and Lora his wife next to him in the middle.  The three girls are all sisters, my cousins.  On the far left is Jessica's boyfriend, and then of course my grandma, my mom's mother, on the top right.  What a cute family!  Thanks for the fun visit guys!