Gone to Texas

From April 23-28, we headed to Texas to visit Gramma, PopPop, CUBby (short for Crazy Uncle Brian), Auntie PiPi (Diana), and Great Grandmomther (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose!). We stayed busy and had lots of fun!

Austin was excited right from the start. At the airport, he ran around looking out the windows at the airplanes. One pilot getting ready to taxi away from the gate opened up the side windown in the cockpit and waved to Austin. He thought that was pretty cool. On the plane, he was so excited that he exclaimed the play-by-play for us. ("It's moving!" "Plane go up in the sky!"). He was so good on the flight that we got compliments from other passengers when we got off the plane.

Austin on the plane...hanging out in his carseat.
Snuggling "bebe" (his blanket), watching the clouds go by.

As soon as we got there, Austin headed outside to play.

He went right for the pool and when Jack wanted in on the fun, he and PopPop threw his plastic chicken head for him to retrieve.

Then it was time to get mommy with a squirt gun.And scoot around on the tricycle.

Going to see the horses.And splashing in the shallow part of the pool with Gramma and PopPop.Checking out Cubby's whiskers.
He got his clothes plenty wet, so we went ahead and got him in his swimming suit so he could go in the pool with PopPop.
First some splashing...Then riding on the turtle...
Then his favorite...climbing the rock edging, standing on the waterfall between the hot tub and the pool, then jumping off into the pool.Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate for him to be able to spend much time in the pool. It was really windy most of the time we were there and then thunderstorms moved in. He thoroughly enjoyed the time he did spend in the pool that first day, though.

The next day, we headed to the Dallas Zoo.
Here Austin is checking out a gorilla in the distance.
Then seeing one up close. This one was lounging right next to the viewing window, and then got up and put his face right up to the glass, so he was very close to the kids.Riding an alligator (statue).Checking out the animals with PopPop.Riding the monorail to see lots more cool animals.Checking out the Zebras
Strolling with GrammaPeeking over the fence at the Giraffes
An albino alligator! Weird, huh?Pretty cool!Having fun at the zoo!Riding the zoo carousel with mommy and daddy.Totally worn out, he fell asleep on the way home, snuggling his new Kangaroo!

Back at Gramma and PopPop's house...
Checking out the barn and the trapdoor up in the loft.
Reading bedtime stories with Gramma.Austin with mommy and Autie PiPi.
We also got to go see the Dallas World Aquarium.
Austin was most interested in pushing his stroller around.He thought the mist at the entrance was pretty cool.Into the jungle with daddy and Diana.Austin got to feed one of the birds a blueberry.Daddy was very excited about the sloth!Checking out the turtles, manta rays, etc.Next to the big glass wall under the water. Check out the fish that is bigger than Austin!Austin with mommy and daddy in the glass tunnel under the sharks and rays. Unfortunately, none of the pictures with the sharks and fish in the background had a smiling Austin in them...Gramma, PopPop and Auntie PiPi.We happened upon a performance of Mayan dance! The costumes were amazing. Austin was pretty intrigued at first, but then got scared and wanted to get away.
Later, Cubby (Uncle Brian) took him for a rid on the tractor! This was probably the highlight of Austin's trip. He LOVED it!
Brian held on to Austin and pretty much let him steer the whole time, only intervening when he was about to drive the tractor into the pond, the fence, the horses, or the barn.
The Texas Cronks have 4 dogs total (including Diana's dog Bentley that comes over sometimes). They are all a little bit crazy. Zoe is the oldest (and calmest) of the dogs. Austin was gentle with her and enjoyed petting her nicely. He even gave her kisses.Jack (the dalmation puppy) and Spike (the hairless Boston Terrier ) were very excited Austin was there and couldn't stop licking him and playing with his toys. Austin quickly learned how to put out his elbow and say "No Jack!" to fend the dalmation off.

The day before we left, Austin got to ride the little horse, Tommy.
He wasn't so sure about it at first, but did pretty well riding around the yard for a little while.Oooooo, fun!

It was a fun trip! Austin had a blast and totally wore himself out. He was too excited to sleep on the plane, but as soon as he hit his carseat in the car on the way home from the airport, he was out cold in mere minutes and slept the whole hour drive home.

While we were there, Austin did pretty well being in a different environment. He likes his routine at home and gets a little off kilter when he's out of his routine, but he really did well with this trip. One thing he missed was his rocking chair at home. Each night and nap, he requested his rocking chair and asked to go home to "Austin's house" because he wanted to rock in his rocking chair before bed. One day, we were out and about and Gramma asked if we needed anything else before heading home...Austin piped up with "A rocking chair for Gramma and PopPop's house." Cutie boy! When we got home, he was happy to return to his room and his rocking chair. When we put him to bed that night, we shortly found him asleep in his rocking chair...

We're now home and enjoying a day to rest before I return to work on Thursday. I finish up a couple more days on my elective, then it's back to the pediatric ICU for the next month. Austin gets to start a new ECFE class on Friday in which they get to explore nature and the outdoors!

Also in good news...I got a job offer for when I complete residency. It's up in the Twin Cities closer to my family with a great private practice pediatrics group! Yay!