Don't Mess With Texas!!

Looking back at the Rockies as we leave Colorado and head on down to Texas…Yeehaw!!

On our way down to Austin we spotted a truck with fresh kill...

I am starting to see a theme here in Texas..

While in Texas do as the Texans do.. :)

Our first stop in Texas on our way to Austin… The Big Texan…house of the 72 ounce steak…

Loving their cowgirl hats...

Lovely…

Enjoying the warm weather outside The Big Texan Restaurant...

We're here!!! The city of Music..Austin!! Their motto "Keep Austin Weird"

Drinking kombucha from the farmer's market right down the road..  

After settling in, we took a day trip out to The Oasis, a wonderful suggestion by my sister, Rebecca.

Christmas in Austin.. The Oasis was so beautifully decorated for the Holiday season… Kids had a blast seeing their first Christmas decorations of the season.

The way they say it in Texas.

Autumn was not so sure about Santa.. She was in no way going to touch him or get any closer.

Here is the reason they call it Oasis..  Wow!!  Stunning views while sipping on a delicious margarita.  While sitting enjoying the view kids were getting restless because they weren't given any crayons to color in their kids' menus.. When we asked the waitress for some crayons, she said they don't have crayons, only pencils because crayons melt..  Oh, really.. Just how hot does it get here Austin?

Looked like it should be the coast of Italy.. Gorgeous!

Cheers!! To a fabulous time in Austin thus far!

Solitude!!

While strolling down 6th Street after some good Mexican food, we came across a bull riding bar.  Lucky for us no one was really in the bar yet since it was still pretty early.  Joss was soooo excited to try it out!  Autumn wanted off the minute she got on.. Smart girl..

Yeehaw!!!  Joss was quite the bull rider….

And so was Erik…  The next morning Erik was complaining of inner thigh pain, not remembering he rode the bull for about 60 seconds the night before.. lol!!

Our little fairy making a huge mess.. but having fun..

Our last night in Austin he finally made it to Congress Bridge to see the bats..  It was pretty incredible to see over a million bats fly from under the bridge at dusk to go feed on mosquitoes.  Each bat eats about 600 mosquitoes an hour!  In total they eat about 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of mosquitoes a night!  Even with all the mosquitoes they eat, our kids are still getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes. What the..?

We also had our first encounter today with fire ants.  We realized why they are called fire ants..because they burn when they bite you!!  Joss and Erik found out personally..

Tomorrow morning we are off to Houston to spend the holidays with my sister and her family.  Very excited to be with family.  :)