We miss Austin!

My trip to Austin was blast. We all had such a fun time together and none of us wanted to come home. I am sure that even little Ellie would have liked to stay with her Aunt Jocey a little longer for all the extra attention. I wanted to post pics of the trip, but I am still waiting to get them so I will post them later.

Despite the horrible experience getting there, Austin was AWESOME! We had such a great time seeing Aunt Jocey and Oger Ben. HAHA!! Noah loved his Ogar Ben, that is how it always sounded when he would say it.

Since there isn't a Nordstom here in Pittsburgh, I was planning on making that one of our first stops. And I loved it. Jocelyn let me get some serious shopping in while she managed all the kids and it was wonderful. Jason claims my family is not a good influence.
Jocelyn, "Get it."
Jana, "Which one?
"Get both."
"I can't have both."
"Sure you can. Just get them both!"
"OK."

Thanks Joce for some great new jeans and several other fantastic finds. And of course for all the darling baby gifts. HAHA!!! Plus, we got to share one of the most delicious desserts we have ever had. Nordstrom Bistro White Chocolate Bread Pudding. I am a little embarrassed to say that we even went back a few days later for some more. But they were all out. It was a sad day.

That night we went to see the famous "Bats!!!" We waited for those, what are they? Birds? Well, whatever they are, we waited and waited for them to come flying out. But they never did. And we weren't the only ones disappointed. There were over a hundred people around wanting to see the same thing we wanted. After a couple of hours, we left. But I did get to see where the Real World was. That is historical. :) The boys really wanted to see all the bats, and Jackson was very happy to find out that the bats didn't eat people. He didn't believe me at first. I am actually not too sad about them not coming out. It all sounds a little sickening to me. Hundreds of bats flying out to eat bugs. Like a big black cloud? Barf.

I won't go into the sprinkler park again, but the boys loved it. So did I. And the best part was being the only people there. Who likes to run around in their bathing suit when there are several other skinny moms around? Not me. :) So I ran around with all the confidence in the world. :) I was a little worried at first, thinking it was closed for the season, but come on, this is Texas. What season? Here is some more about it for anyone that didn't see it earlier. Click hereJocelyn turned the big 3-0 while I was there and so I wanted her to have a special day. With the help of Ben and one of her friends we were able to pull off a small surprise party and it was a lot of fun. Jocelyn had no idea, or so she claims. Although she was acting a bit fishy earlier. Making sure the house stayed clean and all that. When we all got up in the morning, or I guess I should say when Jocelyn and the boys got up, she made them pancakes and let Ellie and me sleep in. So more like "Happy Birthday to me." :) I am talking 10:30 am. It was just like the good old college days. We went to dinner at the Cheesecake factory that night and for her birthday she got the most pathetic little scoop of ice cream I have ever seen. What the heck!? This is the cheesecake factory! Bring it on!!!! So, we went back home and there everyone was. It was fun. And mostly just to see Jocelyn so surprised.

On Saturday, we did some more shopping and decorating in Jocelyn's house. It is always so fun to watch someone else spend money. The only thing was, after seeing how cute her house is, I had to do some new decorating in my house. The boys were always so good while we shopped. It may have been from sleep deprivation, but who cares. They were good! :)

Saturday was had the best Mexican I have EVER had. Thank you Emily!!! Papacitos was scrumptious. I hated to stop eating, know that Pittsburgh can't even come close to good Mexican. I loved every part of my meal. Mmmmm. . what I would give for a little taco from Papacitos right now! Tasty!

We had church on Sunday. It was fine. Nothing extra exciting. But nice. The boys loved nursery. I did too. I think there should be a nursery for even younger than 18 months. Like how about 14 months. Just for the little ones. That would be so nice. Considering that so many of us moms have another baby once the first one goes into nursery. So we never get a break. We relaxed Sunday and some friends came over for dessert. I think I made it. Along with the dinner too. :) I do love to cook.

On my last night there, we decided to paint the guest bathroom. It was a brighter shade of pink with a wallpaper border. It is now a lovely shade of khaki. Very nice. And NO MORE wallpaper. Who does that?! Jocelyn has always hated that bathroom so it was time to get it done. There was some tricky crown molding in there so that was a big fat pain, and the later it got, the less we cared. We had a lot of fun doing it. And by then, I was used to staying up so late talking that I wasn't as tired as I normally would be. I am not a night person. I love love love bedtime!!!

While we were painting, Jocelyn thought that she could hold me and I could paint up close to the crown molding. I kept telling her, "NO WAY!!!" but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Five seconds later I was tumbling or more like flying into the bath tub, taking the shower rod with me. We had a good laugh about that. It was 3am. You know how you get. And I had been sniffing in all those paint fumes.

Wednesday came too soon. We were all sad to leave. I would have loved to have stayed longer and just hung out more. Hopefully one day my sisters and I can live close by and we can do these things all the time. Jocelyn was so great to my kids and said it perfectly. "I am freakin' Aunt Jocey!!!" She is an amazing aunt. I can only imagine the mom she will be one day.

Thanks so much Jocelyn and Ben . It was such a fun trip and so many great memories. Bats or no bats, I still was impressed with Austin.