A Mini-Vacation

I know, I neglected this blog for over a week. Shame on me! But it has been a busy week. Brian and I took a long weekend to Austin/Houston last weekend. And no, we didn't catch the swine flu. Although thinking about the lady who was hacking on the plane two rows ahead of me, and the couple who I think I overheard say they were coming back from Mexico, did make me wonder.

Anyways, we left last Thursday to fly into Houston. Due to a dying battery on our travel alarm clock, we didn't get up on time (which is pretty darn ironic since we never really fell asleep, at least in a good sleep) and missed our flight. We didn't get to the airport until 5:15 am for a 5:40 am flight. I still say to this day that we could have made it through security in time. However, we were re-booked and made it to Houston only 2.5 hours later than originally scheduled.

We drove to Austin, or I should say Round Rock, which is just north of Austin, to do some shopping at the Outlet Mall. Later that evening we met up with our friends Rick and Tina and their two adorable sons, Collin and Zach. Zach quickly became Brian's buddy.

On Friday we went to Zilker Park in Austin where they have a botanical garden. It was the perfect size garden, enough to see lots of pretty things, but small enough so we also weren't walking around forever.

After Zilker Park, we headed to Mount Bonnell. It is one of the best lookout points in Austin. At 785 feet, Mount Bonnell is also the highest point in the Austin City limits.

On Saturday, we headed back to Houston where we went to a Houston Astros game at Minute Maid Park. As most of you know, I am trying to go to every Major League Baseball Stadium. This was stadium number 19 out of 30. Minute Maid Park was really nice. They are celebrating their 10th Anniversary. Due to overcast skies and a few sprinkles, they had the roof closed which was kind of a bummer. It would have been the perfect temperature for a ball game.

A requirement for my stadium tour is that I get a picture in front of the sign. I just realized tonight that I probably didn't pick the best entrance. On the other side of the stadium is Union Station, an old train station they used as part of their design. I wish I had known about it as it sounds really cool. Normally I walk around the entire stadium (if the stadium is in a walkable location). Mental note - walk around more next time, even if it is sprinking.

The home run pump keeps track of how many home runs the Astros have hit since they opened the stadium 10 years ago. The pump went up several times during our game. The game started off slow offensively and then things heated up in the 4th inning. The game ended up going 11 innings. By then, Brian and I were so hungry, we didn't care who won - we just wanted the game to be over. We didn't expect the game to go that long, so we decided just to snack during the game and eat dinner afterwards. By the time we left the stadium it was close to 11 pm and most places near the stadium were already closed. We ended up walking to the Hard Rock Cafe just so we could get something to eat.

One of two pictures of Brian and I on our trip and the only one we didn't take. It was great to get away for a bit. A HUGE thank you to my Mom and Dad who watched the girls while we were gone. We appreciated it very much. It was nice for Brian and I to be able to spend some time together and eat a meal in peace.