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Sunset in Austin |
We were remiss in getting this posted but arrived back in the USA at the end of February. We arrived in Austin Texas
and although we had had a wonderful time traveling around the world, we all
felt excited and happy to be back in the good ol'USA. We stayed at my parents' house in Austin and
all of us were happy to see them. My
parents welcomed us with open arms and ended up spoiling all of us with great
company, food and fun activities. First
off, my parents treated Justin and I to a romantic Valentines date at a
wonderful restaurant, Truluck. They had
made us reservations, gave us a gift card and even spent the evening with the
kids . This was an extra special treat
since Justin and I had not had a date night for the entire time we had been
traveling. The food was fantastic and
the company was amazing. During the rest
of the visit we were all treated to a day at Austin's Park and Pizza. This is a great area that has go karts,
bumper boats, mini golf, laser tag, and amusement rides. We all had a blast. Justin slaughtered me in mini golf, much to
my surprise! We also went to a bounce
park, where the kids had a great time jumping and bouncing. They even tried the mechanical bull! We ate at delicious places and my mom cooked
the most amazing meals. There really is
nothing like your moms own cooking, and my mom is a fantastic chef. High on our list was to go to a barbeque
place called Rudy's. We had all been
talking about Rudy's for at least a month, and I will say that it did not disappoint. During our visit my nephew, Thomas, had his
30th birthday. My mom cooked the most
delicious Moroccan couscous with lamb
and chicken. It was so wonderful to
spend the evening celebrating his birthday and visiting with my sister
Nathalie, her husband Jeff and my niece Victoria. It was great to catch up and share our
adventure.
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Joel is intense in his go-kart! |
During our visit,
Justin planned on taking me up to Waco for a surprise visit to Magnolia
Farms. I am a huge fan of Chip and
Joanna Gaines and their show fixer upper.
We, and I mean I, had a great time looking through their shop and
visiting the silos. They have a cute
garden and even a fun play area for the kids.
We also took a drive over to their first shop and went past the Harp Design Co. During our
lunch break, one of the restaurant staff told us of a house that was soon to be
featured on a new episode of Fixer Upper, so after lunch we made a bee line to
it and snapped a few pictures. While in
Waco we also took a tour of the Dr. Pepper museum. This was a great day for me with being able
to see things associated with my favorite show and favorite soda, win, win all
around.
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Caroline at Magnolia Farms Store
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House in Waco under renovation by Magnolia |
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Dr. Pepper Museum |
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Eden by the Dr. Pepper Man |
Justin had also scoped out a place called Hamilton pools. This is an easy 15 minute walk down to an amazing grotto where you can swim. The kids tried to venture in but all of them except Eden, declared it too cold. Eden on the other hand had a blast playing in the water. Caleb, Joel and Danielle decided to explore the grotto and had fun building a fort with some logs they found lying around. The grotto had a really pretty waterfall and Joel and Danielle went to stand under it.
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Hamilton Pools |
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Danielle Under the Waterfall |
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Eden testing out the water |
All in all we had a truly wonderful time in Texas. It was great not only spending time with my family but also being back in the United States.