We set up camp and attended to the fire on Monday night. Mikayla occupied herself with riding her little ride on toy in the ditch, just like Luka, and running down the hill. Luckily, it doesn't take much these days.
We usually all slept until 8:00, and until we got breakfast and everybody dressed, it was about 10:00 until we headed out for the day.
On a couple of occasions, we headed to Zilker Park, which is the Central Park of Austin. We had gorgeous weather! We took the train through Zilker Park, and enjoyed a really long bike ride one day all around that side of town on all of the trails. On the second day though we think that Mikayla's helmet flew out of the back of the truck on the way to the park, so we were down a helmet on that ride!
Another highlight for me was the late leisurely lunches after a hard morning of playing. Austin has fantastic dives to find. Artsy little fun places with big plates of food. Let me throw in here, we do not order off of the kid's menu. TJ alone eats an adult sized portion already. It is crazy. We usually order 3 adult meals, let the kids eat all they want, and then we eat the scraps. We cleaned up the plates. I can only imagine that in a few years, we really won't be able to afford going out to eat at all!
On the second day, we hit downtown Austin to show the kids some "weird." Austin is known for it's weirdness (i.e. artsy people dressing/doing whatever they like) so we decided to give the kids a bit of culture, since they live in such a "bubble" in the Woodlands. After lunch, we headed downtown, with the understanding that it was the South By Southwest festival, and traffic was a bit brutal. Once we finally made it, the kids were all eyes. Even Mikayla, who sat in the stroller for 2 hours, not making a peep. The street was blocked off for the party, and the boys were taking in all the sites. They were asking many questions, and not once complaining or fighting. I think they may have really thought that they had entered another world. Luka was so taken in, he was bound and determined to purchase the popular T-shirt seen here.
Back at home base each afternoon, we explored the state park. Luka, Mikayla and I experienced a very cool bike ride, and we even chanced upon a time capsule through Geo Cache. We signed our name to the book, which went back to 2004! Luka was quite excited and proud to have found it.
Not all moments were sweet, of course. One night, we were settling in for the evening, and Luka was playing around in the pop out bed. All of a sudden he screamed, and we realized he had fallen out of the camper! It's about 5 feet off the ground. Holy cow! We ran outside to find him laying in the gravel, crying out "Am I gonna die? Am I gonna die?" Of course we told that he would be fine, since he was crying and conscious. Nonetheless, all the blood coming out the back of his head was a bit daunting. It took a while for us to stop the bleeding and figure out how bad it was. Luckily we got it under control and could see that it wasn't a big gash or anything, but we still had to cut his hair really short to clean it and make sure we could bandage it ok. It is actually pretty amazing that he didn't break anything...another 6 inches and he probably would have landed on the hitch.
On another occasion, TJ came screaming and running out of the woods, saying that he had fallen on a cactus plant. The prickers when right through his clothes and everything. That was another 20 minutes to calm him down and get him showered to figure out what the damage was.
And finally, on a hike at the waterfall, while Scott was helping Luka across a particulary muddy section of the path, Scott lost his balance, and they both went down into the murky water. While TJ thought it was hilarious, Luka, of course, did not. It was a bit chilly, and the bike ride back to the campsite was less than enjoyable...
To end on a high note, we had very enjoyable times around the campfire. Mikayla was perfectly happy to sit all buckled in in her chair (a relief to the parents) and take in all the action. She and Luka seem to have bonded recently, and the two of them interacting together just made us all giggle! She would try to talk the boys into giving her more marshmallows. At one point, Luka was bugging her, and we're pretty sure that she managed to take him down while she was still buckled in her seat. He was crying and everything. She's really learning to stand up for herself I guess!
All in all, the memories were created, and we all seemed to have a great time. One more spring break down, 17 more to go! (But who's counting?)
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