Austin (Part 2 of 2)

If you read Tiny D's blog, you'll have seen the cruise highway that Martin's Dad built...Gabby enjoyed showing Martin the crusin' ropes, and here Martin's showing Gabby his skills!



Another Austin highlight was hanging out with Zach (Wee Z's Blog), his push-toys, and his kitty, Bitsy. Gabby got her first tries with push-toys while Zach was napping, and she took a few steps, and seemed to get a kick out of it.



Zach's family has three kitties, and they’re all used to baby attention, but Bitsy was the most amazing. She let Gabby pet her, and also pull her tail, ears, and fur, without so much as a meow. Gabby loved chasing her around!

"I've never been so close to a kitty for so long before!"

"Oh my goodness...she'll even let me touch her!"

We make eye contact, as Zach looks on.

Eventually Bitsy gets tired of all the attention.

While in Austin, we also visited with Carolyn and her parents. Their dog, Libby, was as big a hit as Bitsy. Libby is an extremely patient golden retriever, who also let Gabby pull her fur, and whatever else she could reach, as Mommy tried to teach Gabby the definition of “gentle.”

Carolyn gives Gabby a kiss good-bye.

Gabby also spent some time with some other wonderful Austin dogs, Abita (Tiny D’s dog) and Cactus (Cool Hand Luke’s dog).

On our last Saturday, we had a little holiday gathering. Here the dads show off their "prides and joys." Our friend Brion stands in as "guest Daddy" while Joe takes some pictures. (Evidently, Martin had such a big dinner, as is evidenced by the leftovers on his face, that he busted right out of his pants)!!!

Lou and Luke, Arthur and Martin, and Brion and Gabby

Our final Austin photo shoot is of our Little Longhorns in their matching Texas outfits. Check out how happy they are to be all dressed up in burnt orange! Hook 'em!

Gabby waves at the camera while Martin is all smiles.

Then Gabby is the smiley one.

And lastly, Abita joins in on the Longhorn fun!

Now that Auntie Sara, Uncle Shaun, and Uncle Jay all live in Austin, we were able to spend some quality time with them, while we were in town as well. Gabby also enjoyed seeing their cats, Mercution and Bunny! This Austin trip was just one big pet extravaganza!

The culmination of our trip to Austin included Continental Airlines losing Gabby’s gate-checked car-seat. It’s a long story, but eventually they found it and delivered it to our home, but only after some drama and some time with a lousy loaner seat.

In all, it was a wonderful trip, and it was so great to see all our friends and family, but after 10 days away, there's no place like Home Sweet Home!