Sue & Petes Visit - Part 2; July 4th, Hamilton Pool, Twins Birthday, Six Flags

Last Friday was 4th July - American Independence Day. Before I arrived here I’d never really thought about what Independence Day meant. For those of you that don't know, and want a history lesson, the short version is this. It was basically bang in the middle of the American Revolution, where the 13 British colonies that were living on the North American continent overthrew British Rule. In 1775 the Revolutionaries were able to seize control of the each of the 13 colonial governments, and set up their own army and a Second Congress. On July 2nd 1776 this congress voted for independence from Great Britain. But it was 2 days later that they formally declared their independence as a new nation – The United States of America – and that they were no longer a part of the British Empire. July 4th is now considered America’s birthday and has been celebrated ever since.

Over the Holiday weekend we rented a 7 seater so that we could all get out and about. We had been invited to an all day pool party but I wanted to see some history first so we went to Round Rock, one of the suburbs of Austin, to try and catch a 4th July parade – which we just missed! There was a lovely park near by though – so we went there for a while. We walked along the creek, and learnt the history of why the area is called Round Rock - its to do with a big round rock that the native Americans and early settlers used to tell them whether the water was low enough for the wagons to cross the creek. If the creek bed is dry (which it is this time of year in parts) you can see the tracks, from the wagons, that were made hundreds of years ago. Round Rock used to be a tiny little town, just North of Austin, which you can tell as the centre is very quaint and ‘ye olde’ style. But since Dell Computers opened up there a while back it has grown and grown into the massive area it is today. The houses look amazing there and somehow the prices have stayed low. Even today it has, apparently, the cheapest house prices in all of The United States.

The Round Rock

The tracks in the creek bed

In the afternoon we went to a pool party at Goreti and Tim’s. They had 15 people staying from Houston for the whole weekend – goodness knows how they squeezed them into a 3 bed house!! It was nice to chill by the water, meet some new people, and eat barbecue food. In the evening they were all heading to Zilker Park for a firework display, and to listen to the orchestra but there is usually around 100,000 people there. Geoff reckoned it would be far too crowded and there would be no where to park so we went back to Round Rock where they were also holding a show, and we pulled into the first car park. It was jam packed with people just sitting on there cars – even across the road on the roadside cars were pulled up to see the display! To be honest I was a little bit disappointed, we were very far away from the fireworks and we couldn’t hear the orchestra. But it was ok and everyone else seemed to enjoy it – including the kids. Tom’s eyes were as big as saucers! It was really late for him and Charlotte by the time it finished though so we went home and had a few drinks after they were in bed.

All the cars parked in the car park and across the road

I tried to get some shots of the fireworks but they didnt turn out too well at all

Saturday morning we did something very touristy and headed to Hamilton Pool, a natural spring pool set underneath a waterfall in a very idyllic setting. I’d not seen it before, but Geoff had years ago and I’d heard it was lovely. The trip is a bout 30 miles out of Austin and took about an hour. We got there fairly early as we heard that it fills up quickly during the good weather and it was a beautiful day, but it was already getting busy when we got there. It was a bit of a pain getting to the pool as its set about 80 feet down and involves climbing up and down – there’s no real path or anything except tree branches to hold onto. It wouldn’t have been too much of an issue if it hadn’t been for the 2 toddlers we had with us; I was terrified they would fall and get hurt! However once we got down there it was really well worth it. Tranquil waters, gorgeous scenery. The waterfall wasn’t going, as it’s too hot and dry this time of year – but it was still impressive and I loved the fact that you could walk behind where the waterfall was. When you got around the back of the waterfall, there was a gap between the wall and massive rock structure of about 12 inches to squeeze through at point – it was really tight, you couldn’t be a large person and fit through there. Unless you were brave enough to walk across the top of the rock structure!

I expect we will go back in a couple of months when the hot seasons over and get the full effect. And although it was busy the Twins and I managed to have a bit of a paddle in the pool too!

That afternoon we went shopping at Round Rock Premium Outlets – a huge outdoor Outlet mall which has shops from every major brand you can thing of all at factory prices. Great! It was really hot, so we kept it fairly short and Sue and Pete managed to get a few bits that they wanted to take home (much cheaper here!)

Once again that night the lovely Grandparents offered to baby-sit so Geoff and I could go out so we headed to Graham Central Station, a nightclub I had heard about that claimed to have 6 different clubs under one roof. It was really cool and there was also a separate room that had sport on TVs and sold food. The 6 different rooms were ‘Choppers’ a 70’s/80’s/90’s bar, then there was ‘Denim & Diamonds’ which was where they were all two stepping and line dancing – yet later on it turned into more of a club rather than a country bar. There was a live room but no acts were playing that night. ‘Z Club’ is the biggest room and is exactly like you would expect a trendy club to look playing chart stuff and Hip-Hop. Then you have ‘Wild Cats’ which is kind of a take on ‘Coyote Ugly’ – I saw the girls dragging customers up onto the bar so avoided that one! And last but not least ‘Alley Cats’ the karaoke bar. Now, I’m going to blame the vodka as up ‘til 10pm drinks were $1 a go, but Geoff persuaded me to get up and sing karaoke. I’m not a great singer but some of the people on stage weren't too great either (sorry!) so I thought I would do it for a laugh. And actually Geoff said I sounded better than he expected. I also got a random hi five coming off stage from a woman who said ‘hey – that was really good!’ Maybe I should have checked her alcohol levels too… ha ha!

Last Sunday the Twins turned 3 – where has the time gone? We didn’t go overboard and after a morning full of present opening we had organised a party at Inflatable Wonderland for them and a few of the kids we have met, and that they have become friendly with, since we have been here. We got the venue to put on food, which they did at a very small charge, so I had less to worry about and then let the kids run around having a whale of a time. When the food arrived it was hot dogs, chips, drinks, ice cream and then of course the birthday cake! I didn’t get many photos, as the kids didn’t stay still for too long – but I did get video footage, which was great. They crashed out in the car on the way home and we had a fast food tea at Wendy’s later on.

Extreme excitement ... or disgust at a not-so-good present ... ?

Wheeeeee!!!

All in all Thomas and Charlotte had a great birthday with lots of presents and cards (thank you everyone!), a lovely birthday party and cake plus tons of junk food! 2 very happy 3 year olds!

Monday came and for the last time we left the Twins with Sue and Pete, for the whole day this time, and headed off to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the day. It’s the main theme park nearby – Warner Brothers branded I believe – and is about 90 miles south of us in San Antonio. We had been there briefly for Geoffs Company Picnic a few weeks previously and although I was pleasantly surprised at how many rides the kids could actually go on, its not really the place for toddlers and much more fun for the adults – and by adults I mean ME!! I couldn’t wait for Geoff and I to go on our own. The day started out cooler than expected and then it started raining. It rained most of the day in fact. Nevertheless, the weather didn’t deter us (just like being at Alton Towers really!) and we still had a great time. We naturally went on all the big rides, and I don’t know if its because they were bigger than I’m used to, or whether I’m getting to be a wimp in my old age but they were really exciting, some scary even and seemed huge! We even managed to accidentally catch a show with Bugs Bunny and Sylvester the Cat having a sing off while having our lunch. It was very serious stuff – Tweetie Pie and Foghorn Leghorn were the judges! As it rained so much we ran from ride to ride and I got hardly any pictures at all, unfortunately, but we will go back soon I’m sure and maybe I’ll need more sunscreen next time!

Here are some photos from a few weeks previously when we had been with the kids:

And a couple of photos from when Geoff and I went alone (before the rain came):

The next morning we said good bye to Sue and Pete. It was very sad to see them go home and I think they were sad to leave. But they said they had had a great time and are already planning their next visit in November!