Going Camping

We are leaving for our first Texas camping trip today. We are going to Pedernales Falls State Park which is about three hours south of Austin, west of San Antonio. It's suppose to be one of the higher rated parks. Here's a link to some photos of it on Flickr (I hope to add my own soon).

This is also the first time we are bringing our dog, Hunny camping. This should be interesting. Check back next week for some photos and video.

-Bob

Happy Halloween

Well, we had a good Halloween this year in Texas. Matt was "Jason", Sarah was a "glam witch" and Emily was her favorite Disney character, Tinkerbell.

I have learned something. As in football, Texans seem to have a lot of enthusiasm and spirit for Holidays as well (I know, technically Halloween is not a "Holiday"). The neighborhood we did trick or treating in had many houses that were decorated for the evening. Several went way over the top with dry ice, fog machines, scary inflatables, etc... In the neighborhood where Sarah's school is, they even had a "Haunted Trail". The HOA put it on with neighborhood kids dressed up in scary costumes putting on an outside haunted house in one of the nature preserve trails that winds through the neighborhood. It was Matt's first experience of a scary haunted house. He thought it was cool!

Long Awaited Update

I am sure that there are hundreds of you who have been on the edge of your seat waiting for an update from me. Well, your long agonizing wait is over!

Unfortunately the reason I have not posted much lately is because there isn't much to tell. Our home in Florida has been on the market six months so far, and we have yet to have any bites. We hired a friend who is a photographer to go in and take "Better Homes and Garden" type photos of the place to see if that gives us an edge. We will see. You can check them out HERE

The kids are gearing up for the annual candy collecting activities tonight. One of Christie's new friends from church have invited us over to do Trick of Treat with them in their neighborhood. They have a four year old that is friends with Emily. This is a big relief, because our original plan was to crash one of the more affluent neighborhoods and try to score some better candy that way. As the Holidays approach, we really miss living in a house.



The kids are doing well in their schools, and making friends. Except for the housing situation, we are starting to settle in. We even have Texas plates on the cars!

Check back again soon, I promise not to go so long without an update!

-Bob

Gone To The Dogs

We found a very cool place this weekend to take our dog, Hunny. It's called Bull Creek Park in North Austin. Check out some video HERE.

It's a park on a creek that is open leash, meaning Hunny can run around anywhere she wants to go. We soon realized that after years of being an indoor pet, she needs to come here more often and learn how to be a dog. It took her a while to get enough courage to jump into the creek (for a lab, that's shameful!). Austin has about ten other off leash parks around the city, so we have a lot more exploring to do.

Back to School

Well, Matt and Sarah started their new schools this week. This was one of the milestones that made me the most nervous about uprooting my family and moving to Texas. It turns out that they both love their new schools!



Matt is starting middle school, which in itself is a big step. His school is fairly new (opened in 2004) and has all of the latest technology. He started band class and was assigned to play Trumpet. He likes all of his teachers and already made a few friends.



Sarah has started her new school, which really is a NEW school. This is the very first year it opened. She also likes her teacher, and loves not being in a portable any more. It's located right in the neighborhood that we hope to purchase/build a house in (if we ever sell ours in Florida).

It was a big relief that they both are happy and making friends. Next week, Emily starts her school at our new church. Hopefully things will go just as smooth.

Pictures from the move

I uploaded some of the pictures of the move to our Flickr account HERE. I will add to them as we take more.

-Bob

The Long and Winding (and bumpy) Road

We made it to Austin. It was an eventful trip. I flew back to Florida last Tuesday night and spent Wednesday doing last minute tasks such as oil changes, errands to Lowes, and some last minute packing and dismantling. Thursday morning was a rainy day when we picked up the moving truck. This thing was HUGE! It was quite a challenge learning to drive a 26' truck on Hillsborough Ave in the pouring rain. We spent the rest of the day dodging rain drops as we loaded the truck. We finished around 5pm. Friday morning was spent loading the van, and getting the house cleaned up. At around 4:30 p.m. Friday we departed. We stopped in Gainesville for some dinner at Boston Market and a fuel fill-up (the first of many). While I mostly drove the truck, both Christin and her mom took turns driving it. We could not have made it without her mom's help! We then drove through the night until we finally stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Baton Rouge at around 5:30 a.m. Saturday. We slept in the parking lot for about 2 hours and then had breakfast. Along the way, we ran into more rain, and heavy traffic especially going through Houston. We finally made it to the apartment in Austin at 5:30 p.m. (1200 miles and 26 hours after we left). The next day (Sunday) we unloaded the truck into our one car garage at the apartment complex, as well as a 10x10 off-site storage unit.

Stay tuned for more updates and some pictures once I upload them.

-Bob