the weekend

Will and I have had three wonderful, and extremely different,weekends in a row!  This one was low key and just spent alone or with the dogs, but we needed to recharge our batteries and as cliche' as it sounds: we needed to reconnect.  The pups had been boarded during our weekend in Dallas and they were left at home for last weekend's adventure too, so for Will and I, treating them to something fun was priority.  

One of their favourite things (and a fave family activity of mine) is to go hiking in nature.  Austin is the perfect place for this, with tons of walking trails and creeks connected to most of her city parks that are scattered around the place.  Neither Will nor I have ever previously lived in a city with as many parks and walking trails... nor had we come across a more dog-friendly city: where if a restaurant has outside dining, it's a safe bet that you can bring your pooch along and where most of the city parks and walking trails allow them off their leashes, to run, get wet, be free and experience nature as they were meant to!  The only problem becomes which park to chose... 

Blessed with perfect weather that was neither too hot nor raining on Saturday, we chose Emma Long park (with one of the longer trails) and set off after a late breakfast; where we walked a distance of 6 miles amongst wildflowers, wildlife and fresh air - and had the best time! 

 

It warms our heart to watch our little house dogs jump right into the water, or the bushes, or just run like mad and then rest in the dustiest spot they can find: both so unafraid of the unknown and so comfortable with the outdoors. Something that continues to baffle me since they're both big-city, small-apartment dogs with no prior outdoor experience!

I love the feeling of freedom that we each get during these hikes.  Will and I talk while 'the kids' run like mad - checking up on us periodically but only bothering us when they're thirsty or a particularly large dog is approaching.  We get a chance to talk about the things that we never have time for during the work week and to make plans.  Another thing about these walks & talks is that 6 miles takes quite a while... so after all regular conversation is exhausted, a bunch of topics come up that wouldn't normally.  Like my fave from this latest hike: the compilation of our 'joint' bucket list!  We took what we each had on our individual lists and made adjustments to combine them into one. :) 

So Saturday ended on a blissful note: we returned home at peace and contented.  Bathed the dogs, made dinner (fresh halibut, quinoa and salad) then settled down in front of the telly to watch a movie (Pompeii, the latest version: it sucked!) before doing to sleep.  On Sunday we took a drive to another small nearby town called Wimberley and sampled 'Austin's best BBQ' along the way... that post and plenty of pics coming up!