DISCLAIMER: This is a long post, with lots of pictures and text! :-)
Here's Emma on the plane, ready for the trip. She loves flying on airplanes and was talking about it for days before we left.
On Thursday night, we had dinner in Round Rock with my cousin Elizabeth, and her two adorable children, Grant and Ella. I hadn't seen Elizabeth since 1996 and had never met Grant and Ella, so I really enjoyed the visit. Emma had a good time too.
On Friday afternoon, we headed up to Fredericksburg, which is about 90 miles west of Austin. My dad arranged for us to stay in this really neat historic cabin on the road between Fredericksburg and Hillingdon Ranch.
Here's Emma on a tractor at the ranch. I used to love to sit on the tractors and when I got old enough, even convinced my uncle Robin to let me drive them. Emma thought it was pretty neat.
My aunt Laura (great aunt, actually) took us on a drive through some of the pastures on the ranch in the Rhino. This is a perfect time of year in the Hill Country, because everything is green and blooming. The wild flowers are also out, which are always beautiful. Though the ride was bumpy, Emma didn't seen to mind at all. This wasn't her first time in a Rhino at the ranch.
On Sunday, Laura took us down to the lake, which I went swimming and fishing in when I was a little boy. Her husband, David, made Emma a simple fishing pole so the she could have her first experience fishing. I threaded the fishing line and mounted a hook, then put little kernels of corn on the hook as bait. The fish were really good at getting the corn off of the hook, which was fine by me, because I didn't really want to have to pull a fish up, remove the hook and throw it back in. So even though she didn't catch anything, Emma had her first fishing experience.
Here's Emma in the Rhino and on the slide in "Emma's Park", as she liked to call it. Laura and David have three grandsons and there are plenty of young cousins running around, so they have a little play set outside on their lawn.
Here are a few pictures I took on the ranch, including the signs posted on the Hillingdon front gate, some newborn (literally, just born) lambs, and some shots from our drive around the pastures (which are really just different parts of the ranch that are divided off by fences).
We drove back through San Antonio on the way back to Austin so that we could have dinner with some of my cousins, which I unfortunately don't get to see very often. My cousin Kip, his wife Jody and their two children Robin and Kipling had us over and graciously cooked for us. Laura and David also drove down, and their sons Darby (and his family) and Devin (and his wife) were there as well. Emma got to hang out with Robin and Kipling and Darby's three sons. The first and second photos below are of Emma, Robin and Kipling. The fourth is (from left to right), David, me, Darby, Kip (with Kipling) and Devin.
On Tuesday, since the sun was finally out, Shari and I took Emma to the train at Zilker Park, which I rode many times when I was younger. Emma rode it last year and loved it. And she very much enjoyed it again this year. It also gave Shari the opportunity to take some rare photos of me (since I'm usually the one behind the camera).
We stopped by Mayfield Park afterwards so that Emma could see the peacocks. This is also a place that I visited as a little boy.
Peggy's son, Randy, and his wife, Olof, had us up to dinner on Tuesday night, which was our final night in Austin. They live in Georgetown and have two little boys...Gustaf, who is a few months older than Emma, and David, who is six months. Emma and Gustaf played together, which was really cute. They have a bouncer, which is identical to the one that Emma had when she was younger. So she got to sit in it and play with it from a toddler's perspective, which was quite interesting to watch.
Here's Emma on the plane on the way back. We are very lucky to have a daughter that travels so well!
Finally, here are a few photos that I took of some of the wild flowers. Unfortunately, we didn't get our requisite bluebonnet photo (because of the rain), however we did enjoy seeing them!
1 comment:
Looks like a fun trip! How great that you get to see so much of your family and that Emma can get to know them too. BTW, my kids used to love Mayfield Park! I miss those peacocks. :)
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