Mermaid Hair Don't Care - Austin and POFQ - August 2018 - Week 1 in Austin

mermaidhair · 21 Mar 19, 12:48 AM

Hi everyone.

Thanks to those of you who liked and replied to my Travel Day post, it's always nice to know someone is reading

For those who would like to catch up the index is here.

So as I have no notes from our time in Austin at all, I'm just going to do one summary post about some of the fun things we did while we were there.

I really don't remember the details of our sleep patterns now. Luke is generally very difficult to settle at night anyway, and this didn't really change while we were there. Though at least this meant he didn't wake too early, I think the earliest was about 4.30 or 5 on one of the first few days. Sean did amazingly well and seemed to get straight onto US time, but he's such an easygoing boy I don't know why I'm surprised!

On the first morning we went to the supermarket (to try to find chicken nuggets we could convince Luke were just like home! Spoiler alert - we failed!) and the local Target, which was disappointingly lacking in the Disney range I had been seeing in vlogs before we left. So my first Target haul was a very boring one consisting of Off insect repellant!

In the afternoon we went to Mayfield Gardens, which is a nice little nature reserve where they have peacocks roaming around.

It was hot, but nice and shady for the most part. Luke had a good solution for keeping cool, though we had to watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn't submerge himself fully!

We hoped Luke would be slightly more willing to pose nicely for photos when we got to WDW!

We enjoyed a lovely swim in the pool when we got back to my brother's house, in fact we did that most afternoons. Which was fortunate as a lot of the swimming time on the plan in Florida was cancelled in favour of more park time

I could really get used to this lifestyle! Maybe a few degrees cooler though!

On Saturday morning, Sean and I got to experience a middle school pep rally - my nephew plays trombone in the band and one of the pieces they perform is Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes! The cheerleaders and choir also performed, so that was a fun opportunity for Sean to see what school is like in the good ol' US of A!

We then had lunch at some authentic Austin fast food locations - Luke and Peter had their first Chick-fil-A, but Luke still refused to eat the nuggets, I really enjoyed Tacodeli and Sean had a Mod Pizza (which was just like Blaze but until we were on dining plan he was only getting a kids size

)

We then headed downtown to Zilker Park. I was desperate for the kids to have a go on the famous fire engine, but with it being hotter than the sun they were understandably reluctant

Barton Springs pool looked very inviting on such a hot day.

But instead we cooled off with a ride around the park on the Zilker Zephyr!

We then visited the area around UT (the University) to check out some of the murals and got delicious ice cream sandwiches at Moojo which we ate sitting on swings.

Another day we visited a great children's science museum called The Thinkery. The boys were in their element. So I would really recommend it if you're planning a trip to Austin with kids under 12.

One evening Sean enjoyed a late night trip (in his pjs!) for his first Dairy Queen with the teenage cousins!

We also visited this lovely nature reserve close to their home, and I did a spot of climbing/posing!

All too soon, it was our last full day, and we enjoyed lunch together at Hula Hut, which is a great restaurant on the lake.

Luke enjoyed propping up the bar there!

But this last day meant that after our long wait, and a lot of planning, it was finally Disney Day tomorrow! As we had a US shipping address, we got our magic bands delivered and Sean enjoyed unboxing them:

So all in all, it was a great week. We had plenty of relaxation time as well as getting to see some really nice Austin sights. I would definitely recommend the city to anyone, but probably best to go at a slightly cooler time of year!

I'll be back in a few days to post our Disney Travel Day, which was also our first MK day

Thanks for reading and bye for now!