Easter Weekend

Saturday finally came – my first real weekend in Austin and I had plenty of plans. I didn’t count the previous weekend as really, with Geoff working, it wasn’t a weekend. And of course, it was Easter Weekend. Easter is a bit of a big deal in Austin as we are on the Bible Belt, even though they don’t have Good Friday or Easter Monday off from work. So, after Geoff had made a conference call with work we went furniture shopping again, still just looking. We started at Wal Mart in which the kids got to sit in a trolley, which was like a car. Then we went on to Ikea, which was huge! It was really good, too, as it took the kids into mind and provided an area where the kids were safely tucked away for an hour, with a play area, a big screen with a kids movie or cartoons on, and lots of carers. Unfortunately there was a height restriction, and a toilet training policy, and the Twins didn’t QUITE make it! They had to run around the store with us after all. We had lunch there and then I went SHOPPING!!!

Highland Mall was my first experience of an American Shopping Mall. It seemed massive and I’m not ashamed to say I got lost in the car park trying to find Geoff when he picked me up. It had a huge food court, too, I’d be quite happy to spend a whole afternoon there! I have since been told that there are 2 other malls in Austin that are better, and more impressive, with nicer shops – Bring it on!

That evening I had my first night out in Austin. I met up with a pal from Plymouth who had come to stay for a few days. She is moving out here permanently in the autumn time. One of her friends and Goreti also joined us. We started at IHOP for some food, and then went on to 6th Street for the serious drinking.

The first bar we went to was The Dirty Dog, which is a ‘rocker pub’, a bit divey and basic, but it had a good atmosphere, good cocktails and they sold ‘Smirnoff Ice’, so I was impressed.

OK folks, you KNOW it had to be done ... I got talked into having this picture taken!

From The Dirty Dog we went to The Blind Pig (great names these?), which was my kind of place. It had three rooms, which played different kinds of music. In the main bar they had some live music, upstairs on the roof, where you could see down 6th Street, there was a guy with deck playing all kinds of stuff (he played Kylie when the girls asked me to go and request it, though not before clarifying WHICH Kylie!). Then downstairs there was another room, which we discovered later, I don’t know what exactly it played but when I went to have a look it was playing Bon Jovi. We stayed there for quite a while – it was a little bit busier than the previous place. To be honest the whole of 6th street only started buzzing from about 11pm. People were walking down the middle of the road as if it was the sidewalk, there was no traffic to be seen, and even the police were on horseback!

Views over 6th Street

Hello World!

Here's to the future!

Those horseriding Police

I really wouldn't ask............

All the girls together

Then we went to Maggie Maes, which is very touristy, but we weren’t sure of the atmosphere in there. It was a great night, lots of fun, and it was really good to make some new friends! Also, we wanted to prove that we Brits knew how to drink, and we drank the one girl that was from Austin under the table. Success!!! ;-)

Easter Sunday we went to Anne Marie and Stuart’s for dinner, along with Goreti, Tim and Agnes. Anne Marie cooked a gorgeous meal with a ham, split green beans and scalloped potatoes. It looked very formal but the atmosphere was very relaxed. The adults had dinner while the kids were all playing (Zoe and Agnes being ‘Big Sister’s’ again) and then we got the kids fed. We did it that way as we knew it would be hard with 6 kids under the age of 7 in the house and chocolate everywhere!! After everyone had eaten there was an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden! I was busy helping Thomas look for Eggs so unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of this.

It was a lovely day, we sat around gorging on chocolate and sweets, and left very late in the afternoon. And we are now 2 weeks into our new lives in Austin!

Week 2 in Austin

On Monday this week we got together with Anne Marie again. It had been spring break last week (similar to half term) which is why Zoe had been around, but on Monday it was just Daniel and Matthew. She took us to a little Italian restaurant called Fazilios and then across the road to Chick-Fil-A, so the Kids could play in a playscape, and then we got Ice Cream. It was a lot of fun, especially for the kids.

We also put our application forward for the house we love. I had to write a very ‘gushy’ letter about how much we loved the house, how perfect it was for us etc. Well it worked anyway as later that afternoon I had a phonecall to say we had been approved (Yayyy!) and we could start the lease as early as Wednesday if we liked! We declined that offer and decided to go for the following Friday (28th). We didn’t even have any furniture yet. But I cannot wait to get into the house….

By Wednesday I had been here for well over a week and was desperate to get out so the Twins and I went for a walk down the road to an outlet area. We went to a big shop called ‘Ross’ – v cheap! I bought the kids a couple of outfits each for only a couple of quid, and some bits for me. It’s a bit of a potluck place – u can find some real bargains if you sort through it all. In the eveing we went out to a place called Fresh Choice, which is a buffet place. It starts off with all the salads and you kid yourself you are being really good and healthy. Then you come to the pasta … and the pizza … and the cakes … and the ice cream – the battle is lost!

The macaroni and cheese was soon forgotten about when the ice cream and chocolate brownie appeared!

Friday I got a nice surprise, when Geoff turned up at lunchtime and said he wasn’t going back to work that afternoon. (We live so close to Emerson that Geoff often comes home for lunch. Sometimes he brings me a Subway, or a bagel from Einstein Brothers, or something just as delicious – if I’ve been a good girl! ;-)). His boss had told them all the go home; I guess the staff had all worked so hard the previous weekend that he took pity on them. Over here Good Friday and Easter Monday are not counted as bank holidays, so I wasn't expecting to see much of Geoff over Easter. We decided to go for a drive to find a nice park, as the weather was really nice but not too hot. We got a bit lost but came across a really nice man made lake by a school. It had a big green to run around on, and some tables, so it would be lovely to take a picnic there. There were lots of geese and ducks, and even a bloke randomly fishing – he stayed for about 10 minutes before driving off… After there we decided to do a bit of furniture window shopping to get some ideas of prices. Exciting, eh?

Random fisherman!

That evening we went over to another friend’s house for pizza, wine and nibbles. It was really nice to catch up with Goreti, Tim and Agnes. Agnes had fun playing with Tom and Charlotte, she was being ‘Big Sister’, which gave the adults a bit of a break! We were all up very late – we didn’t get the kids to bed ‘til about 10pm.





So another week has nearly gone - and we havent even got to Easter weekend yet!

Our First Week In Austin

Monday
Well we have arrived here in Texas! Our journey started at 5.30 on Monday morning when the taxi picked us up to took us to Gatwick. My Mum came with us as not only did we have 4 cases to check as luggage, 4 bags as hand luggage and Thomas and Charlotte (who were pretty disgruntled to be woken up at such an hour ;-)), we had the cats in huge kennels. We figured we would need some help at the airport. But from the moment we hit the motorway there was a problem. We were not going to make our flight at 10.15am, let alone check in! When we told the driver what time our flight was he told us that it was not enough time to get there! It turns out that both Emerson and the Taxi company messed up, as they should have booked the taxi for 4.30am - cue panic! We rang American Airlines, en route, to see if there were any other flights going to Austin that day, and luckily there was one a couple of hours later with loads of space. So the minute we got to the airport we had to go and get our tickets changed over. The lady behind the desk was really nice and she didn’t charge us, we should have had to pay $100 a piece. Panic over. We checked our luggage, got the kids changed, said good bye to the (very distressed!) cats, and got some lunch. By the time we had finished it was time to board the flight.

Normally I love flying, but I had never flown with a pair of toddlers before! They refused to sit still which was a real pain when the seatbelt signs were on, and they just wailed to be set free. They also refused to try and get some sleep. Luckily the flight attendants were very helpful and understanding – I guess they have dealt with plenty of unhappy, tired toddlers in the past. We flew to Raleigh in Durham on the East Coast of the States, instead of to Dallas as we would have on the original flight, and had about an hour to get through customs and on to our flight to Austin. That was a bit of a rush! Thankfully the kids did get about an hour’s sleep on the second flight – they were so tired and I felt so bad for them.

Geoffs friend Stuart met us at Austin airport to help with everything, which we were very grateful for. We picked up our hire car and travelled to our apartment, which is very nice and pretty big by US standards. It’s pretty open plan with a living, dining, kitchen combo. It has a big sofa and chair, with a TV, DVD player, a desk and a table with 4 chairs. The kitchen is fully equipped with on oven, built in microwave, sink with food disposal, fridge, a washer and a dryer. Our bedroom has a double bed, bedside tables, dressing table, an en suite bathroom with double sinks, bath and shower, and walk in closets. Thomas and Charlotte are sharing a bedroom at the moment and have got a single bed each, a chest of drawers and a walk in closet. The main bathroom is the same as our en suite but with just the one sink. The apartment is also hooked up with phones and broadband.

By the time we got back to the apartment we had been up for around about 26 hours and we crashed out. We were very tired but that’s okay – we always expected it to be a long tiring journey. And at least we had arrived safely and soundly.

The Main Complex Building

Entrance to our apartment

Bit pants but just a shot of our apartment to give you a bit of an idea
The views of the quarry lake from our patio

A couple of shot of the grounds

The friendly squirrel that we keep seeing around.

Tuesday
On Tuesday I woke up at around 5am thinking it was much later. We are 5 hours behind the UK here, but I wasn’t expecting jetlag as I have been to the states a few times before and have never suffered from it. I guess I must be getting old! Geoff had the day off so we did all the basics. We went to the bank to get me added to the account Geoff had set up 2 weeks previously. We went to toys’r’us to buy the kids a few toys and basics like booster seats, kiddie plates etc. We went and picked up some groceries from a local H.E.B., which is similar to a co-op with a deli counter for all those from the UK. And, most importantly of all, we had lunch at IHOP (International House Of Pancakes), which is one of my very favourite eateries in America. They do the most amazing breakfasts there, (I love the omelettes) and with everything you order you also get pancakes. We went for a walk around the complex our apartment is in, but we were too shattered to do much more than that so in the evening we just slobbed in front of the TV and tried to concentrate on American Idol!

Wednesday
Geoff went into work on Wednesday and the kids and I hung around the apartment ‘til lunch, when Geoff came home and I went to look at a couple of houses (neither were quite right). When Geoff got in from work we went out for dinner at Luby's, which is a buffet kind of place. Geoff describes it as ‘cafeteria food’ and it was a lot like being at school with a plastic tray and pointing out food that you wanted behind the counter. The Spanish accents were so think that I could not understand some of the servers and ended up pointing! Then we went to check out a new shopping area called Arbor Walk. It’s a bit like Fosse Park, if Fosse Park was in one long strip, and is huge. It has restaurants, shops, coffee shops, a play scape, everything you could want! One thing that hasn’t ceased to amaze me yet is how cheap everything is. The mark up here looks exactly the same, so for instance a pair or trainers in England might cost £45. Th exact same trainers here would be priced up at $45. But when you take the exchange rate into account it comes to £23ish, and I can’t help but walk around doing calculations in my head!
Thursday was pretty uneventful again – we stayed in but went for a walk around the Quarry Lake which our patio has a view of. Its really pretty and lots of people (not me!) go running round it – even in temperatures of nearly 100 degrees!

Friday
On Friday I went to view a few more houses at lunchtime. Its generally sunny here and a nice temperature, but on Friday the temperature sky rocketed to temperatures in the late 90’s. Anne Marie, Stuarts wife, They have a girl called Zoe who’s in school (2nd Grade I think) and also a 3 year old (Daniel) and a 1 year old (Matthew). It was really scorching, so the kids had great fun playing in their paddling pool, while we sat and watched from the back porch, and chatted. Another friend came over to play with Zoo and her Mum stayed too. It was really nice to talk to people from Austin, they gave me loads of tips on where to shop and take the kids, where to eat. They also recommended a paediatrician and a paediatric dentist. We stayed for pizza when Geoff and Stuart got back from work, and didn’t get home ‘til gone 9pm. The kids were wiped out and it was a great day all round!

The weekend
On Saturday we went to look at a house together, one of the ones I viewed on Friday. I loved it but wanted Geoff to see it and see if the kids liked it too! They did which is not surprising as its pretty impressive. It is 3,488sqft with vaulted ceilings, 4 bedrooms (it also has another huge room, which could be a game room, but we will probably have it as a play room) 3 and 1/2 bathrooms, garden, breakfast kitchen, 3 car garage. The master bedroom is so big that I actually don't know how we would fill it. And it has its own little indoor balcony on to the rest of the house - how cute???! We don’t need a wardrobe as it has amazing huge walk in closets;, as do all the rooms. Its in a nice neighbourhood, close to work for Geoff and close to a school, a park/playground and pool, so its perfect. I can’t believe its still on the market. I think it must be to do with the pictures on the net, as I almost didn’t even view it based on those. Bad for the owners – good for us!

That afternoon Geoff had to go into work so we went and got a burger at Wendy’s (like McDonalds but nicer) chilled out in the apartment, and went for a walk around the Quarry again in the hope of feeding some ducks. But there were none around and it was 84 degrees out so we came back after about half an hour. That night we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The food was delicious and I will definitely be going back!

Sunday Geoff was in work AGAIN from 8am ‘til 4pm. I am assured this is highly unusual. Emerson has had a really bad time with one of their customers so it’s all going wrong at the moment. Unfortunately it meant that our first weekend in Austin was a bit pants. When Geoff did get home though we went out to the Arboretum where we fed the ducks (including some strange bird that looked like a cross between a duck and a turkey!). The Arboretum is a place that people always talk about in Austin. Its like a big area full of coffee shops, little boutiques and shops, restaurants etc. It has an outdoor eating area with a big green and some nice stone cows (!!). It’s THE place to be - especially when you have children!

The Turkey-Duck bird at the Arboretum pond

The weird stone cows that al the kids love to play on!

I don’t have a car yet or even anywhere to drive! Plus the roads terrify me! They are nothing like in the UK so I don’t understand all their rules... I think I’m gonna have to have a few driving lessons just to get a handle on it.

I think that Thomas and Charlotte think they are on holiday as they are running around wearing summery clothes in a new place, but I have had a lot of tears so they are a bit unsettled. The cats are ok - they just seem fed up with being indoors. They took a couple of days of cowering under beds to get used to it but seem more normal now. Myself, well I’m not sure if I feel like I’m on holiday or whether this feels like its becoming home. It took me about 5 days to get used to the time difference, which is to be expected. It still feels a bit weird but everyday I’m here I do feel a bit more settled and am getting used to life here. Not a very exciting start to my life in Texas I’m afraid folks, but I’m looking forward to having some adventures when things at Emerson die down a bit!