Austin

Seth had a race in Austin, TX on September 17th. I can't pass up a trip to that cool city, so we tagged along. 

First stop.... donuts at Krispy Kreme! They were promoting their pirate day, so the kids got the pirate donuts. 

Afterwards, we went to Zilker Metropolitan Park. We rode the Zilker Zephyr, a little train that rides all over the park. 

I actually thought Adelyn had outgrown the park (we went 2 years ago too), but at the end of the trip she said this was one of her favorite things. 

Fire truck playground equipment is the best!

The park has a spring pool and Ladybird Lake backs up to it (the pool is the fenced in area behind Adelyn). Adelyn was upset that I hadn't packed her bathing suit. The spring pool was 18 feet deep!

On Thursday we went to The Thinkery, the children's museum. I have been to a lot of children's museums and this one is probably the best one I've been to. James and Grandpa had fun building pulleys and all kinds of things!

Meanwhile, Adelyn got her paint on! This is a huge plexiglass wall that kids can paint, spray with water, and squeegee it clean. 

James is controlling a hot wax machine. They conveyer belt would run every couple minutes and the wax would cool and harden, making cool shapes. 

They had an entire room devoted to light play/glow in the dark things. My kids loved that room! 

This is the playground just outside the museum. It was very nicely done- Ipe wood and strong rope. The kids climbed all the way to the top. 

This is the public playground across the street. They had playground equipment I have never seen before! So neat!

They had this beautiful mosaic dragon outside the park. After I took the picture I read the sign saying no climbing. Whey would they put this structure outside of a children's park then? 

After the museum, we went to the race track to watch qualifying. The kids helped change a tire with Marks. 

There was a ferris wheel at the track! It was cool to see the entire track from up high!

We ate dinner at Ironworks Barbecue and walked to the Congress Avenue Bridge to watch the bats fly out from beneath. Every night around sunset, millions fly out at once. The bridge was packed with people waiting to see this. It was really something else!

Seth loves Mr. Dan! (Seth's co-driver). It was Dan's birthday this day!

Friday was race day! We went to the HOT fan walk. I was pouring sweat- it was 95 degrees. 

Luckily, Seth knows a very sweet lady who gave us passes to a suite. The suite was air conditioned and had drinks and food. It was decorated swanky with white leather couches and glass tables. We could walk outside and sit in the stadium seats. This is our view (cars lined up for the start!)

We were lucky enough to sit outside and watch the driver change. Dan got out and Seth got in. We were stationed right above the Bimmerworld pits. Seth and Dan finished the race in 5th place! This was their BEST finish this season! 

James with Eric after the race

I took a bunch of kids on a tour of the paddock so they could meet some drivers. I ended up hopping into this car. :)

I met one of Seth's friends from high school. She lives in San Antonio. I loved spending the day with her family! They even joined us for dinner that night. 

I keep joking that I'm moving to Austin- it's such a great city! We are proud of Seth for his great finish!