Austin

We've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Austin to check out my sister's awesome new house. Bad weather on the horizon, illness and my neice's new found ability to climb out of her pack and play encouraged us to leave today rather than tomorrow. I think we'll all like each other better after a good night's rest. We did manage to hook up with my cousins Frances and George. Photos to follow when I return to Washington.

Andy has positively been a trouper this trip with all the strange places to sleep and new faces to encounter. We're been sharing a room all week and it's actually been more fun and interesting than I would have thought. My mother lent me a book light so I keep reading once he is in bed and it's been kind of neat watching him fall asleep. Normally I tuck him in and leave the room so watching his thought process has been neat.

On the flight here, our portable DVD player broke. Dead. Just what you need on a long flight. I bought one at Academy (a coveted Coby brand that no one has heard of) that worked, but it made a really loud whirring noise - so loud you could hear it over the audio. I know, what do you expect for $69. I returned it and after two failed trips to Target (these are obviously the It toy this year), I found one at Wal-Mart. I got it home only for it to not recognize any DVD. Great. Now I've got to return that one, too. Of course, in our haste to leave Austin, I think I left our DVDs at Mary's. With all this travel, I feel like I've been leaving crumbs across the state that I'm going to be hard pressed to collect before we leave.