Hays Family Roadtrip - Kerrville & The Y.O. Ranch

By Monday afternoon, we made it to Kerrville.  

We had a big room at our hotel, which was also full of big animals!

We enjoyed our tour of the lobby and saw so many interesting things!

The next morning we made a little pit-stop at a pretty park.  It was so nice!

We loved the nice weather and just being outside, walking near the river.

So peaceful.  Jackson gave it two thumbs up.

About 45 minutes outside of town, we came to our final destination--the Y.O. Ranch. 
Jared went to summer camp at this very place about 30 years ago!

We were greeted with some beautiful longhorns...

this very friendly horse...

and sweet donkey!  Such a fun way to be welcomed to the ranch! 
We were fed a delicious lunch...

and then hopped into the Mule to go on our private safari tour.

Our first stop was to meet Sam the Camel.  He was not the least bit shy!

Cami liked him, but loved the miniature horses even more.  So adorable.

We spent some time feeding Sam, the miniature horses, and their Longhorn buddy.

If we weren't careful, Sam would reach over and kiss us!

Such a great way to begin our animal tour.

We finally said goodbye to our new friends...

and went to fine more cool animals--like these zebras and zonkeys!  See how the one on the left as stripes only on it's legs?  It's a cross between a Zebra and a Donkey.   Ha!

We kept moving and found a pack of three of these guys.  The most friendly one only had one horn...

but this one finally came up and ate this cookie out of my hand.

Guess she liked it, because she snagged one from Cami, too.

Next up, this mean ostrich!  It started running towards us, so we had to speed away!

We saw more big game, but nothing as fun as these next animals...

The giraffe family was our favorite!  Our tour guide showed us how you can feed them a cookie from your mouth.

I was the first one to attempt it and it worked!  So funny.  Jackson tried, then Cami tried, but no luck yet.

They began feeding them leaves, which were a big hit.

How cool is this?!

We had such a great experience with the giraffes.  It's something that we won't soon forget. 
They were all super friendly and the highlight of our day.

After that, we fed some skittish llamas...

and enjoyed the "roller coaster ride" going down a steep hill.  This kid has no fear.  Lila and I were hanging on pretty tightly, but Cami threw her hands in the air!

We saw the swans in their little pond.  Isn't their house so cute?

We took a peek at the newly built amphitheater, and tried our best to score some tickets to Kenny Chesney when he comes to play a private concert there this fall!

We absolutely loved our roadtrip through Texas and highly recommend it for anyone who loves good food and the outdoors.

Hays Family Road Trip - Day Two in Austin

We kicked off day two in Austin with another excellent breakfast.  Kerbey Lane was sooooo good, that Magnolia Cafe had it's work cut out for it.

Although there was no queso on our eggs, everything was fantastic...

and so charmingly strange!  See that random pterodactyl skeleton hanging from the ceiling?!

After breakfast, we drove to Zilker Park.  It was a gorgeous day, full of sunshine.

After the girls played at the huge playground, we walked down to the water, near Barton Springs.

It was picture perfect!

We all took some time to enjoy the view...

and then walked down the river until we came to the Kayak hut.

Let's do this!

Lila, Cami and Jared hopped in their canoe first...

Then Jackson and I got in our kayak and caught up to them.

So far, so good!

Did I mention this was a pretty day?

We kayaked all the way past this bridge, around the honking geese...

and then back again.  Such an awesome way to see the city!

Our next stop was pretty cool, too. 
The top of Mt. Bonnell, where Jared proposed to me almost 17 years ago!  

My goodness, we sure have come a long ways since then. 
My heart was full being able to show our kids where our family began!

We made a pit-stop at the Oasis on our way out of town.  It was the perfect spot for a refreshing beveridge and snack.  

And one heckuva view! 
Our next stop was Kerrville, TX.  Stay tuned for lots of animal pics!

Hays Family Roadtrip - Austin, TX

We woke up early Sunday morning and headed further south towards our favorite city in Texas--Austin!!!  We wanted to spend as much time there as possible, and let's be real, there isn't a whole lot else going on in Waco that we care too much about.

We found a close parking spot to Kerbey Lane Cafe that just so happened to be in front of the
UT Tri Delt house.  Very cool.

Even though our waitress may have had purple hair, and maybe the hostess had about 5 too many piercings, the food was excellent!  The kids were in awe of the weirdness around us, but no one could deny how yummy the Eggs Francisco were, which included queso on the eggs--genius.

Who loves queso?  This girl!

After we stuffed our bellies, we set off on a walk through the UT campus.

These cool new murals were one of the first things we noticed.

We spotted the tower and crossed the street to enter the campus.  Cutest little longhorns ever.

The campus is so neat!

All of us thoroughly enjoyed our walk...

and we loved taking the kids to see where I went to college.  We went shopping for UT gear at the Co-op and then set our sights on the Capitol.

It was a gorgeous day to be out and about!

Jackson and Lila both loved all of the rich history of Texas, 

especially Lila, who kept asking me to document this monumental occasion from every angle.

They thought this monument to the Alamo was really cool, too.

Everything is so grand in the Capitol building, even the staircases!

The rotunda was impressive...

and so was the House of Representatives.  The kids even got in a little real world education!

As much as we loved bebopping all around Austin, we were in desperate need of a good nap.  These beds were phenomenal and soon Cami and I were fast asleep.

We rebounded well that night and made it out to an awesome dinner at the original Matt's El Rancho on South Lamar.  Such a lively atmosphere with great drinks and food.

Full day in Austin was up next!