Sunshine & macaroons

Nicholas' family came to Austin to visit this past week. Initially, it was just going to be a "girl's weekend," but then it turned into a week, and then his dad surprised us by leaving at three in the morning and driving the 17 hours with their two sweet dogs in order to spend the week with us. We didn't know he was coming until we heard a knock on the door. It was such a sweet surprise! These were some of my favorite parts of the visit:

Walking around downtown and tasting macaroons:

Visiting Inks Lake State Park: with blooming cacti, hiking, carrying around out littlest explorers (the dogs, of course), picnicking, reapplying sunscreen like it was my job, scrambling over rocks, cliff jumping(!), and Sonic milkshakes on the way home.

Supper out, and a walk around the restaurant's neighborhood, watching for fireflies at dusk.

We lounged at home, and Teddy/Ted/Tedbear (the lighter-colored pup) slept in our bed every night.

The rest of the week, we ate tacos and barbecue and ice cream, relaxed by the pool, played dominoes and rummikub, picked out sunglasses in the Warby Parker bus, and drank quite a lot of coffee.

On the last day, Nicholas' parents left early in the morning to drive back to Indiana, and Nicholas worked, so I spent the whole day with my sister-in-law, Katelyn. We went thrifting, and visited Gourdough's and Seventh Flag coffee, but also saw some new-to-me Austin sights, like Hope Outdoor Gallery. And that evening the three of us went out for our favorite pizza, and then coffee on the lake.

All told, it was such a wonderful week. Whenever we see either of our families, it is really hard to say goodbye and transition back to loving from afar. This week left us with anticipation for the next time we visit, or the next time we host. But most of all, this week left us with happy hearts.