Life in Texas!

We have been in Austin for a little over  2 weeks now and are having SO much fun! There are so many things to see here and Jeff simply loves how many rivers and lakes there are. :) It is too hot to go outside during the afternoon (unless you're in the water), but morning and evenings are cool enough to go and explore town. The city seems to come alive at night as well! We discovered this our first day here... at Walmart.
When we first arrived at our apartment we had to run over to Walmart (which is 2 minutes away) and get a money order. This was around 4pm and there was hardly anyone there. However, when we went back that evening around 9pm to get some groceries, the place was PACKED! We waited in line for 20 minutes just to check out! I know Walmart can get bad sometimes, but I'd never seen it this bad! So Jeff and I have decided to do our grocery shopping before 5pm, just to be safe. :)

Austin truly is a beautiful city with so many places to see! Below are some pictures of the adventures we've been having since we got here. :)

We went to the Bat Festival! There is a bridge on South Congress that goes over the river running through downtown, and under this bridge lives the largest urban bat population in the world! Every night around dusk the bats come flying out from under the bridge to hunt, and every year Austin celebrates this with a Bat Festival. :) There were about 12 live bands that played....

 Vendors of all kinds lined the bridge. There wasn't more than an inch between each booth! Lets just say it smelt REALLY good and was REALLY crowded! haha

Jeff, James and Monica waiting for the bats to come out. 

 Sadly the bats waited unusually long to come out this night and when they did it was too dark for me to get a good photo of them.

 But this is what it looks like normally. :) 

 I love how many trees there are here! Even downtown the streets are lined with them! 

 We also went to Barton Springs! This is the niftiest pool I have ever been to! It is a section of the river that has been made into a pool. (Awesome I know!) The ground is completely natural, with all its original rocks and plant life. Cement has been lined around the river to make it into a semi-pool and a diving board has been put in. All in all a really neat place to go swim. :) 

 These are our new friends Monica and James. They helped us move in on our first day here, we clicked, and now we get together with them several times a week. :) 

 One side of the pool...

 Other side. Yes it is VERY long. :) 

 This is a fun part of the river Jeff and I found the other day.  

 Jeff exploring the river a bit. 

 Look at the adorable baby turtle we found! I saw it when we were playing around the river and Jeff caught it. :) 

 He kept trying to bite Jeff. :) 

 Mmmm. . .Yummy?

Isn't he the cutest turtle you've ever seen?! We decided to name him Squirtle. :) 

Yet ANOTHER part of the river we found to play in. :) In the picture are Jeff and two friends, Bart and Taylor, skipping some rocks. 

Just skipping some rocks. :) 

 Austin is the most dog friendly city I have ever been in or heard of! Dogs are EVERYWHERE. It's so fun to see so many people out playing in the river, walking along trails and even shopping with their dogs. Living here is even making Jeff want a dog. (Finally! ;D)

Truly Austin is a very fun and outdoorsy place to live. Jeff and I are so excited to be living here and having so many interesting and fun places to explore. Yes the city is beautiful and has many fun sights to see, but our hearts are out in nature. :)

 SO pretty! 

We love playing in the river and love how many different places there are to go and visit! I guess there are also a ton of lakes near by, we just haven't visited them yet. We'll have to change that. :)
I know I posted a ton of photos, but there are just so many things I want to show and share with all of you! Hopefully this post isn't too long and the pictures aren't overwhelming. :) I'm going to try and post at least once a week, so hopefully my next posts won't be as long. ;) haha