As we headed up to Austin this past weekend, I expected to come home with at least a half-dozen pictures to share of the great time we had. Unfortunately, all our plans kind of fell apart. Austin, I have decided, is not a great family vacation spot. Especially when you're on a budget. However, it was Uncle Jon's birthday, so we went up to see him.
The driving portion of the trip went well. The girls happily colored, snacked on Chex Mix and watched a DVD to pass the 3 hour trip. Connor was content to sleep for half of the trip and blow raspberries at his reflection the other half. I wish the experience made me feel a little more confident about our planned road trip in November, but... well, it doesn't, since that trip involves 23 hours of driving (without stops).
Unfortunately, the rest of the trip was the whole idea of "the best laid plans..."
The itinerary was decent. A trip to the natural science museum, a quick stop at the Cabelas store, and then an early dinner at the pizza buffet/arcade. The actual execution...
The natural science museum exhibit that interested the girls the most was the fake boat in the "aquarium" portion, which was a small room with a bunch of dead fish skeletons pinned underneath glass. Perhaps the only really interesting display was the large pterodactyl skeleton they had hanging from the ceiling in the main hall.
The Cabelas store was mostly for James, but the girls did enjoy the aquarium and the two diorama rooms. They also had a bit of fun at the shooting gallery, but the stress of the trip started to hit them and they were pleading to go home or back to the hotel.
So, we went to "dinner" at 2:30. The girls at least enjoyed that part, but when we moved to the arcade, the music was so loud it was difficult to communicate and the novelty quickly wore off as the tired girls started to get headaches. They did get to do some skee ball and mini-bowling. Then we hastily traded in our accumulated points for "Pinkie Pie funny faces", 2 pink bracelets, and a stick-on fake mustache for Connor (not pictured... yet).
By the time we dropped Jon off to have an evening with his in-town friends and got back to the hotel we had several hours left. However, once at the quiet room, the girls calmed down and were able to relax. So we had "dinner" at Yogurtyland (that's right, fro-yo for dinner), got them bathed and in their pajamas and settled them down for bed. Of course, getting two preschoolers to settle down for bed when they're sharing a bed in a lit room... well, they were at least asleep before 10 this time.
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