Dispatches :: Austin, TX

I have some advice for parents of preschoolers...steer clear of fondue restaurants. 

We went to one with my in-laws.  I was thinking, as they were, that what with all the dipping and cheese and chocolate it would be a match made in heaven.  WRONG!  What none of us considered was the long sharp forks and pots of hot liquid at the table.  There weren't any accidents but trying to eat fondue while nursing a baby and keeping Huck from skewering or scalding someone was no fun.  But mmmm, warm cheese.

Austin is such a great funky town.  We also ate at the South Congress Trailer Park Eatery.  It's a weird little collection of trailers that sell food.  Tacos, burgers, desserts.  There's a swing under a big oak tree, lots of picnic tables with colorful umbrellas, a pavillion for live music at night and a whole flock of plastic pink flamingos.

Though we didn't go swimming in Barton SPrings, we did spend an afternoon at Zilker Park, rode the Zilker Zephyr train and visited Zippy the balloon man. 

Huck got a scabbard and two swords.  I love that he made 2 swords.  I mean, how sad would a balloon knight without a battle be?

Oddly one of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the State Capitol where my sister works. 

Huck really liked the building and the big wide halls.  We also got to go into a few representatives offices and one had lots of taxidermied things in it.  Now, to borrow a phrase from my niece, taxidermy isn't really my thing, but Huck loved getting to see a real alligator head up close.  And with our amazing insiders tour guide we also got to go into some tunnels that go under the roads and connect the Capitol to outer buildings.  I told Huck they were super secret spy tunnels so he did his sneaky walk down there--it's a sort of fast tip toe thing with his shoulders snugged up to his ears.  Very ridiculous.

The other highlight of the visit for me was seeing my kid do something I've been kind of play teaching him for a while.  We often do a little play introduction.  We shake hands and I say "Hi, I'm Mommy, what's your name?" and he says something like, "I'm Huck. I'm three." And then we do a little pretend greeting conversation.  He thinks this is very funny.  We were in and out of a lot of offices and there was lots of handshaking going on and my adorable little guy jumped right in and introduced himself to each new person we met.  A little shaggy headed politician.  It could not have been any cuter. 

We're out of Austin now and headed west on the last driving leg of the trip.  We'll make our way back to Idaho over the next 4 days.  More dispatches to come...