Welcome to Part 2 of our Austin trip!! We woke up bright and early Saturday September 23rd and trotted our way to a new coffee shop in town, Foxtrot.

DJ and I had spotted it on our walk the evening prior, and it had a line out the door.

We certainly had a more lackluster experience than expected & the actual coffee was not all that great in my opinion- while they may have great offerings, it’s not quite a well oiled machine just yet. I’m sure it’ll be running more smoothly in no time.

We walked around the city after. This picture was really special to take on Congress bridge- it felt very full circle. (She ended up falling asleep in the carrier for an early morning nap as we walked the city).

Similar picture taken just a few years ago!

Side note: the second picture from a few years ago was when I was going through hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery the first time (trying to get a cycle back after it being MIA for years while running marathons- yeah, not healthy, 0/10 recommend lol). Going through it again this time, the trip to Austin gave me that boost and reminder that it’s possible, that the weight gain is worth it and a lot of good comes from recovery in addition to being able to have a baby.

Anywho, not sure how to segue, but after walking the city, we went to one of our favorite brunches of All. Time. Caroline has been on my Austin bucket list ever since we lived there. It was within walking distance of the hotel, so it was a pretty easy decision!

There was a wait, but not a super long one, maybe 15/20 mins? It helps when you wake up early with a little one and beat the usual weekend brunch rush! We went to their coffee bar area and grabbed a breakfast taco for Quinn & a croissant to sample since I could tell she was pretty hungry (and let’s be real, I was too 😅).

We were seated soon after getting our food! She really loved the taco. I mean you can’t go wrong with breakfast tacos from anywhere in Austin.

Cedric came everywhere with us that weekend- Quinn’s new bestie!!! Shhhh don’t tell Moose.

Quinnie feeding Cedric.

DJ ordered a Mexican Iced Coffee and raved about it- I get why! I tried a sip, and it was delicious.

We ordered a couple cinnamon rolls, and oh my, they were as good as they look!!

DJ enjoyed their chicken and waffles.

My mom and I split a couple dishes. This feta and spinach omelette had a very unique smokey flavor. So savory and unlike any omelette I’ve had.

The absolute star of the show was this dish below- the sweet corn cake Benedict. It included a jalapeño cheddar corn cake, avocado, tomato and corn salsa. It was divine. Truly one of my favorite brunch dishes of all time. Pete ordered the same thing!

We were very happy campers after such a stellar brunch!

We decided to walk through the Capitol building since we were already nearby. On our way, there was some type of political convention taking place. We didn’t have much interest in that, but the robotic dog definitely caught our eyes!

It just makes me think of Black Mirror!

Into the Capitol we go! We had been here once before, but it was neat to tour again.

After, we played outside in the green lawn for a while to let Quinn get her wiggles out. Then we walked around some more along Congress.

We had to get Quinn her own little bandana. She’s embracing that Texas girl life!

We couldn’t turn down some free ice cream samples from Salt Lick- yum!

When we got back to the hotel, we wanted to try to squeeze in some time at the pool before Quinn’s nap. The Azul rooftop pool at the Westin is amazing!!! The views, the vibe, it’s everyyyyything.

We had a great time, and it was so relaxing!!

Our girl was tired after alll the excitement and ready for a big nap. She napped in my Mom and Pete’s room so we could get ready for the wedding.

I ordered us all SweetGreen (I missed that place!). It was as good as I remembered!

Quinn was still napping when we headed out for the wedding. It was about an hour drive which provided us some rare time for uninterrupted conversation. The wedding was for good friends from UT (where DJ went for Grad school).

The ceremony and reception provided a stunning view of Horseshoe Bay.

It was a wee bit warmer that day than I think had been anticipated (It was around 100 degrees all evening!), but that didn’t stop the wedding bliss nor the wedding fun!

Also this cake!

Everything was just so lovely. The best part was catching up with old friends!

Back in Austin, Grammy was up to some antics 😂.

A happy girl with her VooDoo donut!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner (we have had some awesome wedding dinners lately!) and then daaaaanced, danced the night away (sung in Dua Lipa voice).

Quinn was wiped out from all the activity and managed to pass out at a decent hour despite having had a four hour nap that day.

Love this pic of her and Grampy 💕.

As soon as we got home, we transferred Quinn back to our room and she didn’t even stir. Hard to know how everything will go with sleep/schedule traveling, but all went smoothly as could be! Such a fun day!

Stay tuned for Part 3 😊.

<3,

Mackenzie