we are in austin, arrived a few days ago and are just now settling in and recovering from the trip. sort of grueling, but technically ok--no major issues at all. just a sticky, sweaty, smelly (thanks to carter's gas) plane ride. one woman gave me The Look of Death when she bumped her seat, but i just loudly said, well honey, remember we talked about not to kicking the seat, but i know how HARD it is to sit still when you have been up SINCE FOUR IN THE MORNING...(and lady did you notice that i am also holding a toddler and trying to facilitate painting and clay games and dvds and picture books and drinks and cheeze-its and i am really sorry but when this little girl squirms she just might accidentally get your seat because it is about 6 inches away from her face, which is not your fault technically because the airplane seats are made like that but please give us a break here).

when we first got on the plane and they gave the oxygen mask speech, ava was consumed with questions about it, most notably why i got to put the mask on first and not her in the event of a loss of cabin pressure. after explaining it, she seemed to be satisfied, and then about 5 minutes later she sighed (and i swear she put the back of her hand to her forehead) and said "ohhhhhh...i need some oxygen!" -- causing the vast majority of the passengers to crack up.

carter seems to love texas, and is especially enamored with city life and all the motorized vehicles on hand every moment of every day. we went to the zoo and he was more interested in the chickens and roosters and peacocks roaming around than anything else in a cage. actually, his favorite part was playing in a pile of rocks--putting them in his pocket and trying to feed them to the animals in the petting zoo.

today ava and i got to go to The Lion King, which was just unbelievable. i knew about the puppetry, but never fully appreciated it. and we were in the 10th row, on the aisle, and there is a procession of animals down the aisles, right past her. she sat quietly for nearly two and a half hours, mouth agape, completely transfixed. it was definitely a big deal--we both got dressed up, and we had vip tickets and were treated like royalty--she really got a dose of theater magic.

not sure what tomorrow holds. all i know is that it is sunny and 70. that is all i need to know.