We are ready for Fall!

Luke is watching a kite fly high above him.

This past weekend the weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  So, we decided to play outdoors ALL WEEKEND LONG!   We stayed inside as very little as possible.  It felt great to be able to get some fresh air, since we have been spending way too much time indoors during this hot summer.

On Saturday morning, we visited the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary.  The Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary is a pleasant Hill Country zoo experience where you can see the animals close-up, spend some time outdoors getting exercise, and have fun (taken directly from their website, but also very true).  The zoo is a non-profit organization and obtained most of their animals through their rescue operations.  I don't know why anyone would want to keep a pet tiger, lion or bear at home, but I guess some feel they need to have them as pets.  When these folks can no longer take care of them, the Austin Zoo comes in for the rescue.  Even some of the monkeys came from research labs.  Nonetheless, we loved visiting them on Saturday and getting super-close to them.  Luke wasn't as excited to get super close to this tiger--it was a little too close for comfort:

I am almost giddy about the thought of this weather sticking around for a while as the fall season approaches.  This is my favorite time of the year.  It brings cooler weather, fun times outdoors and NCAA football!  We loved our time at the zoo, walking down the paths in the beautiful hill country and seeing the animals up close.  You could tell the animals loved the weather also, as they were all out and about and playful.

Quack Quack!

Big Turtle!  Luke was having a conversation with him.

Luke was SO EXCITED about everything at the Zoo.  So Happy!

Super Close!

Peeking at some lions

We even saw an adorable family of peacocks walking along the path at the Zoo:  two mamas, many babies and some daddy peacocks perched pretty watching from above.  I think you can tell from this video how excited Luke was to be at the Zoo....he was so excited he could hardly talk about it!

After our trip to the Zoo, we ate and came back home for naps and then more fun outside!

Luke has never flown a kite.  So, we took a couple kites to a nearby field and had a blast with them.   The weather was perfect for kite-flying.

watching the kite fly high above

That's Buzz Lightyear flying HIGH above!

We just had so much fun being outdoors this past weekend and are excited for more of this weather!  Fall, we are SO ready for your arrival!