Watch Out Texas, Here We Come, Part 4

Don't worry, this is it.  I'm finally wrapping up the play-by-play on our Texas trip.  It was such a good time, filled with so many memorable moments (and I had very little free time to recap during our time there!).  Anyways, here goes on final days/thoughts.

Sunday
This was our relax and have no real plans day.  And we needed it!  After the perfect weather day before that ended with a cloudless sky and a brisk air, we woke up to a humid and warm morning.  Thankfully no rain, so we got the boys outside as much as possible (as usual).  Eventually we went on a family walk (including Gramma and Grampa) to meet up with Uncle Phil & Aunt Leah for lunch before they left for the airport.  I totally forgot to catch a few photos with Phil & Leah.  But believe me, we enjoyed a nice lunch together at Mellow Mushroom on Guadalupe, the Main Street of the UT Campus.  Doug bolted after lunch with the little guys to get them home in time for nap (still catching up after the festivities yesterday!) and Gramma and I took Koen out for a special treat in honor of his helpfulness the day before with his brothers at the wedding.  I tried to make a huge deal of his responsible and helpful behavior.  He seemed to get it.  But he also just really likes fro yo.

After naptime we again got the boys outside.  This time the sun was out and we all just soaked it up.  I originally thought we would try to go down to a playground or something, but the yard is so fun and the boys and the adults enjoy it alike, so we just stayed at the house.  The big boys played wiffle ball for a long time.  Tav was loving hitting the pitches and Koen really enjoyed playing left field.

Tav is just too cute sporting the sunglasses and striking his little batter pose (he was taking lessons from Daddy on how to stand and his effort was adorable).

When Penn Rye came out to play after his elongated nap, he got into the diggers.  Of course.  Here he is making his bulldozer noise.

Tav did some funny poses to help show off his digger parking garage that he, Koen and Doug built with natural products from the yard (behind Tav).

I think Tav was inspired by figure skating in the Olympics with this hilarious pose.

I think Penn was watching Tav's charisma and decided to get expressive too.

Koen even got into the digger story-telling with Tavin the last few days which was fun to see.  I loved that they just played simple games in the yard.  They so needed these few days of fresh air!

Tavin is laying asphalt to cover the potholes in the road he told me (yep, he's from Pittsburgh, land of potholes).

At one point, Koen asked to borrow my camera.  I went ahead and let him.  It was because he wanted to take a picture of a squirrel that was really close to a bird.  Here's the bird.  It's a grackle (super annoying squawker and they can snatch too).  They are all over Austin.

Here's the squirrel.  Doug said that he and Koen watched him for awhile and at one point the Squirrel actually ran up a tree with a plastic cup full of liquid!!

We had a super fun surprise that evening with Aunt Abbie and Uncle Zac stopping by at the boys' dinnertime.  We actually ended up feeding the newlyweds their first dinner (well, post-reception) too.  What a fun bonus to get to see Mrs. Diltz (and Mr. Diltz too).  The boys loved it.  A sunset dinner for the newlyweds and our boys.  Not too shabby.

Well, that's it for Sunday.  Mom and Dad had gone to a family's house for dinner, so Doug and I just laid low after the boys went to bed and rented a movie and ate our own dinner of Salt Lick leftovers.  Although we had thought of going out or something that night, I was thankful that we just stayed in, relaxed and headed to bed early.  What a weekend!

Monday
Our morning was mostly efficient packing and planning for our trip to Dallas and then home.  We did get the boys outside most the morning though.  We had another fun surprise in that since it was President's Day, Abbie & Zac had off from work (they aren't going on their honeymoon until March) and they wanted to meet us for lunch on our way out of town!  I needed that final bit of Gagnon time as I had a REALLY hard time saying goodbye to Mom and Dad at the house when we checked out.  Oh how I cherish time with my family and therefore the goodbyes are often emotional and after a momentous week together celebrating Ab's wedding it was even more emotional than usual.  Thanks for a final bit of family time, Ab!  Here she is watching over the boys at the playground while Doug, Zac and I grabbed the food at the amazing Central Market in Austin (these grocery stores are awesome, but the cafe and playground are oh so family-friendly!).  

Koen and Tavin were in fine form basically Melder boys vs. everyone else (they just like to assume everyone's a bad guy).  On the one hand, it's great that they work together, team up and protect each other.  On the other hand, it's a little frustrating that they pretty much make enemies of every other kid on the playground.

Penn wanted nothing to do with the baby playground.  He was too intrigued by the big kid one (much to Abbie's chagrin...she was so nervous having to watch him!).  

Well, it was a perfect finish to a great first family experience in Austin.  The boys loved the exercise and Penn was tired enough to then sleep a good 45 minutes in the car on the way to Dallas.  I loved soaking up a few more minutes with Abbie and the casual atmosphere made the goodbye seem a little more like "see you tomorrow" than "see you in a few months, I'll be a thousand miles away."  Anyways, before I tear up...our trip to Dallas was seamless and we even stopped at the famous "Czech Stop" as recommended by a Texan friend of mine.  Ever had a Kolache?  Well, if you ever drive 35 between Dallas and Austin, you should totally stop.  Yum!  We brought them with us to Dave & Kristen's for breakfast the next morning.  I never eat pastry, but I was too curious not to and I was glad I did. =)  

We got to Dave & Kristen's right at 4pm as planned.  Olive had just woken up from her nap and joined us all in the backyard to enjoy the warm, fresh air (it was high 70's there too).  I was a little lazy with the attempt to get pics.  I wish I had made a picture happen with sweet Olive and her buddy, Penn.  They are both at such cute phases and are so adorable.  Here's just a picture of them all playing.

Our evening at Dave & Kristen's was so relaxing and felt like a home away from home.  Dave & Kristen, thank you so much for your hospitality and generosity.  We will most definitely be back again en route to visit Abbie & Zac.  Hopefully our boisterous crew didn't wear out its welcome this time around!  You guys were soooo gracious!

Tuesday
We ran the energy out of the boys as much as we could before leaving for the airport at 10:30am.  The boys were ready to head home and very ready for another airplane ride.  I'm so grateful to have such willing and happy little travelers!  Doug grabbed this shot as we walked down to security at Dallas' Love Field.  

Our flight leaving Dallas was delayed and nearly cost us our connection in Houston, but thankfully we made it with really no time to spare (they were paging our family when we were getting off the Dallas flight).  They had promised they would hold the flight for us in Houston, but we were unsure.  I was so thankful they did.  Amazingly our bags got onto the flight too.  The boys had eaten their lunch on the quick jump from Dallas to Houston, so the 2 and 1/2 hour flight from Houston to Pittsburgh was more for napping.  Penn was pretty spun up and silly for the first half hour or so of the flight and I was nervous he wasn't going to give himself a chance to nap, but eventually he just crashed in my arms with some encouragement and oh my it was some precious snuggle time with my Penn Rye.  I was relaxing and resting during the hour and 10 minutes he slept and I didn't even notice Doug took this picture.  But I'm glad he did.  Look how sweet Penn is just buried in me.  Love it!

Well, we got home in Pittsburgh on time at 6pm-ish.  We didn't arrive at our house until about 7:30pm and then it was a mad dash to get the boys into their beds digging out the bare minimum from the suitcases.  After they were in bed (didn't take too long, they were all exhausted), I rushed around unpacking as much as possible and Doug ran out for some groceries as I would be carless the next day.  Phew.  We did it.  8 day vacation, 2 cities, many friends and families visited, one sister off and married, 3 boys back home in their beds.  Family vacation February 2014 done.