A Trip to Austin (part 1)

Alan had a work conference and so we decided to go along and enjoy the free hotel room.
We'd heard much about several donut places, and being the donut lover that I am, we had to try them.  Round Rock was a little out of our path and I don't know that I think they are really worth the drive and all the hype, but getting a Texas-sized donut was pretty fun!  :)

We went back to the hotel and then walked up to the capital building.  I kind of love downtown as it reminds me of New Jersey and all the fun walking I did there.  I would love never having to drive again...honestly!  I love the walking lifestyle.

Ethan was convinced that it was his job to read all the plaques.

This, by the way, is "picture mode".  Ya' know, Rescue Bots have "vehicle mode", etc...well, these boys apparently have "picture mode" and it is them hugging and it is adorable!  :)

Needless to say, the cannons were pretty much their favorite part.  :)

The foyer has a statue of Stephen F. Austin (a curly-haired guy) and so naturally Jared had to pose by him...

...and Sam Houston (who apparently had straight hair) so Ethan stood by him.

 

It's a pretty cool dome.

There was a group of student government in the House.

Jared was chasing birds all over.

Look!  I was there too.  :)  And please don't judge for the ugly footwear and visible socks...walking may be awesome but it means I have to wear real shoes and apparently I am too old to care that I forgot to bring a pair of no-show socks.

After swimming in the hotel pool and some rest, we went to the Thinkery (childrens' museum).  It was a pretty cool place.

Um...what happens when you accidentally leave the lens hood out?  You get a lovely black ring around the picture.

Can you tell that Ethan wrote "Ethan rules" on the painting wall?  :)

Air is pretty awesome!

This was a painting with wax machine and it operated like a claw game.  They thought it was really cool.  I wanted them to actually try and draw something.  Oh well...they had fun.

They had a die-cut machine to make some little paper fliers to use in the wind tunnel.  It made me very nostalgic to my teaching days.  :)

I love microscopes!

I really want one of these light tables or walls.  I loved them!

Have you ever done frozen shadows?  Light is really cool too!

The outside play space was fun too, but it was pretty hot, so we didn't stay out long.