On Monday we took Donovan down to Zilker Park to ride the kiddie train. It's been around forever, Zach used to go as a kid, and Zach's dad's been really wanting to take D on it, so we-- me, Zach, D, Mom, Hank, Jenny, and Andrew-- took advantage of the sunny day and headed down there in a big caravan (that's how D rolls). I don't know if D was that impressed, but he at least didn't hate it.
Afterwards Mom took D home from the park, Zach went with Andrew to pick up the new (used) car he just bought, and Jenny and I went to Mozart's coffee shop to hang out a bit. There was a bit of a scare when we got back to ne of the cars to find the driver-side door wide open with no one around, but nothing was missing or broken in the car, so who knows what that was about. Jen and I got to Mozart's a little before sunset and stayed till it got dark, so I got to take lots of pictures of the sun setting over Town Lake, and the christmas decorations at night. Fun times. =)
Tuesday we took D to Guero's for his first taste of real tex-mex. He totally dug the queso, but then Zach tried to give him some of the spicy salsa and he burst into tears, the poor kid. Other than that I think the lunch date was a hit. On the way back Zach decided to take a little detour and we drove by the house he lived in as a kid (from about 6-13 years of age), then ran into an old neighbor who said that the current owners were out of town so we were welcome to walk around and go into the backyard if we wanted. A lot had been completelyre-done, but I think Zach really enjoyed getting to see it and take that little trip down memory lane.
New Year's Eve was extremely chill... we didn't really do anything at all. We had a friend stop by, drank a bit of champagne, and watched the ball drop with family. Then D woke up just past midnight, you know, to wish everyone a happy new year. And then took the better part of an hour's worth of rocking to get back to sleep.
Yesterday we took D to meet his great-great-aunt Leona (Zach's mom's aunt). I was weary of how it would go, but she was so glad to meet him and was super nice. She had all sorts of little toys for D to play with, including a Furby that he was quite perplexed by. There was also a dancing Elmo doll, but we couldn't get the battery compartment open to put new ones in. Oh well.
Today Jenny, JC, and I met up with Daddy at Jo's on 2nd street for a late lunch, then she and I had a short coffee date afterwards before meeting up with Zach, Hank, Andrew, Ryan, and D, and later Mom, too, at the Hike and Bike trail for a walk and to show the kids the ducks down by the water. I've been feeling a little negative about seeing all the Austin sprawl and how much things have changed and all the new buildings going up (like the 4-5 highrise residential buildings in consdtruction now just in the downtown area). It just feels like Austin is changing so fast... But today as we were walking I was amazed by how many other people were out and about, of all different types-- hardcore runners, pregnant moms with their jogging strollers, families and friends walking in street clothes just to enjoy the outdoors. It was really cool, and restored many of my positive feelings about Austin. That sounds wierd as I type it as those two things are not necessarily connected, but regardless it was great to see so many people outdoors doing stuff, and feeling a bit of that sense of community.
Tonight we met up with a few friends at Chuy's for drinks. Unfortunately when I set up the meeting time of 9pm I was not aware that Chuy's closed at 11pm. We wound up staying till 11:30, I'm sure the staff weren't happy with us but whatever. It was great to see people and catch up a bit with old friends.
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