Spring Break in Texas #2!

Last Monday Jake's younger brother Adam and his son Wylie came to visit for a few days. After a huge hassle with the rental car company Jake went down to Austin to pick them up in our trusty Prius.

Tuesday I met them at the park over lunch and from there we headed to a local Mexican restaurant. I have to say having a not-quite-two-year-old around made me love and appreciate how big my kids are getting. : ) I had forgotten how much work baby/toddlers are.

Highlights of the week were going to the 1st CAV Museum on post and letting the kids run around. Wylie was impressed with all the "tractor airplanes" aka helicopters.

We also went up to the Waco Zoo on St Patty's day for an all "green" day. We got to see many of the animals be very active and learn from their keepers alot about habitat preservation. The best part of the day was the Orangutan interaction. Thor is very interested in Orangutans right now so we spent a long time watching them.

On Friday morning we went to the Topsy Exotic Ranch and experienced a safari. We had taken the kids to one of these when we lived in Georgia and Baleigh was absolutely terrified of the animals. This time she loved throwing food out the window to the deer, and goats. Wylie was very excited to see a "drama llama" (one of his favorite stories) and have it eat out of his daddy's hand. He was also a big fan of the zebras. Jake let a Watusi (an African Bull with GIANT horns) give him a big ol' unexpected kiss. He wasn't a fan.

Friday afternoon we went down to Austin to try out the river walk - after making a pit stop at Galaxy Cupcakes in Georgetown. South X Southwest was going on so we didn't end up stopping as it was closing in on several midget's bed times. We found a hotel with vacancies - got two of their last three rooms and then headed out for some Tex-Mex food.

Early Saturday morning Jake took Adam and Wylie to the   airport for their flight home and the Texas Nielsen's were home in Killeen by 9AM. We all crashed and took naps in the afternoon. I think that was my favorite part of Spring break 2011. Its always nice to have a weekend to recover from your vacation. : )