This past week was Nikki's 22nd Birthday so both her parents, Cynthia and Gary, and her boyfriend Ian came out to visit us here in Texas! We did SO much stuff this weekend with our guests.
Wednesday: We went to the famous Blues on the Green over at Zilker Park. Every other Wednesday in Summer Zilker Park hosts
a free music concert on the grass. We walked over to the park (a mile away) and spread our makeshift blanket (an old sheet) out to enjoy the music. Hundreds of people were there with picnic dinners, their dogs, and their kids. It was such a great friendly ambiance
Friday: We went boating on Lake Travis! Cynthia and Gary had rented a beautiful house for the weekend. The house even came with a menagerie of animals. Zeus and Hera, the two shepard dogs, a handful of cats, goats, horses, peacocks, and chickens. Boating was tons of fun. It started out a little cloudy (and even began to rain at one point) but as soon as
the sun poked its head back out it was blazing hot. We swam and had a delicious lunch (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, baguette, and fruit). In the afternoon we got a little braver and went tubing and wakeboarding. Tubing is exhilarating-- there is a fine line between fun and frightening. I wasn't able to stand up wakeboarding but Ian was amazing and even pulled off a few jumps and tricks. That 
evening we were joined by Nikki's Aunt and Uncle (Dana and Rodney) who live in Austin, some random friend Linda that was with them (though we don't know why exactly), and Gary's college roommate Sandy and his girlfriend Becky (who live on Lake Travis as well) for a birthday dinner celebration. Again the food was delicious. Thank you Cynthia!
Saturday: We took the gang down to South Congress which is the street full of second hand clothes/antique/boutique/coolest
things to look at. We browsed the Texan items and Nikki even bought herself a pair of second-hand cowboy boots. We went into Allens Boot shop to look at the boots there. They are serious works of art and range from 200-a couple thousand bucks. But if you try them on they are unbelievably comfortable. The smell of cow/alligator/cobra hide was a quite overpowering. That night we let our real Texan selves out and went to the Broken Spoke, a famous honky tonk dance hall. We got there at 8pm to take advantage of 
the dance lessons. After an hour Nikki, Ian, and I were doing the Texas Two Step like pros. We also learned the Cotton Eyed Joe. I particularly liked this one because you would dance it in groups of three and four so I wasn't dancing with some random Texan.
Sunday: We went kayaking on Town Lake. It was so much fun. We saw tons of turtles and even a water snake (Ian freaked out, but Nikki and I were fascinated). The weather was great but quickly turned that evening into the heaviest rainstorm ever. Of course we had to play in the rain a little. That
evening we went to the Alamo Drafthouse to watch Inception. The Alamo Drafthouse is a famous cinema in Austin where you can order food and drinks while you are watching the movie. We got some beer and popcorn and had our minds blown away by the movie.
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