We went down to Texas.

Specifically, a lovely resort near Austin.  Which wasn't very Texas-like if one was expecting loads of open flat areas covered in sand, sagebrush and cacti.  With an occasional cowboy riding by.  And strains of Tejano music playing in the background.  I guess all that is more of a West or Southern Texas thing. 

We'll have to incorporate those into our trip the next time. 

[Look! I got "incorporate" into a sentence!  Next to work on including "utilize" or better yet -- "infused".]

At any rate, it was an enjoyable weekend, especially seeing friends we haven't seen in a while and chatting by the pool and over dinner.
 

We took a long walk Saturday morning through the nearby nature preserve (note the Colorado River -- yup there is one in Texas too! -- way in the distance in the pic above).  So pretty. 

On our way home we had a few hours in between flights in Minneapolis so... like crazy good Americans we went to the Mall of America.  Let's just say I'm glad we only had 3 hours to utilize.

I rather quickly became infused with consumerism.

(Note younger dd in the upper left -- that's her waaayy up there on that climbing thing.  It was very scary and she was very brave to do it.)