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!