Austin, Texas here we come!

Benton's family has the best tradition! Anytime any of the sisters hit 40 years old, the girls go on a girls trip to celebrate. This was the second trip. I didn't go when Rachelle turned 40, I was living in Illinois when they all went to Vegas. But thankfully this time I was able to join them and fly to Austin, Texas to celebrate Carol's 40th Birthday!

I have never left my children before and I was so nervous before I left. Thankfully my mom watched the girls during the day on Wednesday & Thursday and Benton watched them after work and all day Friday and Saturday. And thanks to technology I was able to Face-time them each day, so it wasn't too hard for me.

Since Carol, Aimee and myself live here in Utah we all traveled together. Our flights were a bit bumpy but it was fun being together.

 

The day after we all arrived we went to the spa. Doesn't that sound amazing? Well it was. I got a 75 minute massage and it was so relaxing.

 

We did a ton of shopping and ate really good food. My favorite was this turkey, ham, and cheese sandwich called the Shiner Monte Cristo. It was AMAZING! I think I'll be dreaming about that sandwich for some time to come.

 

 

 

 

We had heard to go see the bats. Between 750,000 and 1.5 million bats reside underneath the bridge each summer. Groups of tourists come to see the bats fly from under the bridge at dusk each night. We had to see for ourselves. I was the one who had the idea of seeing them but once we got there I was a big baby because you could see thousands just flying around. Freaked me out.

 

 

 

The last day we were in Texas we went on a small hike up to Mount Bonnell. The hike really wasn't a hike. Basically we walked up a bunch of stairs to an overlook of the whole city. It was beautiful to see the city and the river.

 

 

 

Before our flight we had an hour to kill, so we stopped by the Capital building. As we were walking around the grounds we saw a beautiful butterfly. It was flying really close to us and of course I thought of my baby Allie. It was a beautiful ending to our trip.

 

 

 

There wasn't anything specific that I would say was my favorite thing that we did. It was the time we spent together, talking and laughing that I enjoyed the most. I love my mother in law and sister in laws so much. I am so lucky I married Benton because he has the best family. I couldn't be more grateful for the relationships I have with each one of them because they are so special to me.

 

Happy 40th Carol! Love you all!