Happy Birthday Day...August 27, 2009

Toby turned the ripe old age of 35 today. We don't usually go all out for birthdays for each other...or for any holiday for that matter. Birthday celebrations at our house usually consist of a small gift and cake of choice. It's also always a given that we know we get to do whatever we want to do on our "special" day with no argument from the other.

So, Toby decided that he wanted to go canoeing on Town Lake (renamed Lady Bird Lake recently)in downtown Austin. Canoeing on the lake is one of the 50,000 things we have on our list of things to do in Austin.

Somehow or another in route our plans got changed and we decided to do the Austin Duck Adventures....another activity on our to do list. As with most downtown areas free parking is almost always impossible to find. Toby got to be a pro at finding free parking when he worked downtown when we first moved here, so he always finds us a spot with ease....me, I just pay to park to save myself the aggravation.

Anyway, it gave us a chance to walk a few blocks of downtown which is something I always love to do. Although I love the peace and quite of being out of the city limits I also could see myself as one of those city folk that take public transportation and live in one of those high rise condos overlooking the city.

Once we made it to the Welcome Center where we were to board the Duck Adventures we paid our hefty fee for the tour and got our tickets. We had about a half an hour wait before the next tour so we got us a snack at the little convenient store a couple of buildings down. We sat outside on the ledge of the music store and ate our snack and people watched. People watching in downtown Austin is always very interesting to say the least.

Although the temps are still in triple digits, I was not feeling it too bad....I guess you eventually get immune to whatever temps you get acclimated to.

I think Summer was enjoying the tour more than Toby and I. After all, what kid doesn't love hanging her head out a windowless vehicle feeling the wind blow in her face PLUS it rides in the water too! I don't think the lady sitting next to us was feeling the same joy. She was looking a little green and at one point was in search of a plastic bag. We couldn't figure out if she was sick from the heat or the motion of the giant rocking vehicle we were on.

Along the way, the narrator was giving little bits of history about downtown. It was very interesting and some of the stories were very amusing. We also passed by the filming of a movie they are making in downtown.

Here are a few pics of the tour...




One of the benefits of homeschooling....driving the Duck Adventures boat!





After our tour we were in need of some dinner. Since we were already downtown we decided to try out a restaurant we had never eaten, the Hula Hut on Lake Austin. I have to say the food was pretty good and we had a pretty good first dining experience. Being on the water with the tropical feel the restaurant gave off almost made me feel I was back on the coast....no seagulls there to beg for food though. :-)




Toby with his free birthday snack...and no thank goodness they didn't sing to him there. I don't know what the treat was called but it was very good.




I don't know about Toby, but I had a great day on his birthday. :-)