ATX: Katie's turn.

For months Katie had been begging for me to take her and her bestie to Austin. This summer, I told her. We'll have time this summer. While Katie was at one of her camps, Ryan and I had made a quick escape to ATX, but Katie's busy-ness threatened to get in the way of her trip. In July, though, I finally got to make good on that promise.

Our first stop was to see Cara and her babies.

One of the few pix of Addie. She was too busy
to pose for photographs on this day!

Later we headed downtown to see the bats at Congress Avenue bridge! While down there, we visited the new Toy Joy location and had dinner at Austin Java. Then we were off to the bridge.

 Here they come!

If you've never seen Austin's bats, you MUST. May to November is the best time to see them. They leave their bridge home typically 30 minutes before sunset and head out for a night of foraging.

Since it's pretty dark, it's hard to get decent photos. That's why you need to GO. See for yourself. You just can't imagine how it sounds and feels to have thousands of bats circling under your feet.

That black smoke above the trees? Not smoke.

Before heading back to our car, we enjoyed the gorgeous sunset and our views of Austin in the early evening.

But our day didn't end there! We also went to Pinballz, our favorite arcade, where the girls played several video games and this old-school bowling game.

We topped off our evening with some Amy's Ice Cream and a visit to the Arboretum cows.

Such a fun day! But our adventures in Austin would continue...