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!