Maria was such a good traveler! (first plane ride)
We went downtown, by the Capitol, on the Congress Street bridge to see the bats leave at dusk. Lots and lots of people come to see the bats come out. The bridge, the grassy banks, and the river itself was full of people waiting for their appearance.
The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas.
Waiting for the bats
Interesting Bat Facts
~The bats provide a valuable service to the Austin community by consuming between 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects nightly!
~Bats can live to be 30 years old.
~Mother bats give birth to a single pup each year. The pups birth weight is nearly 1/3 that of its mother.
~Bats are mammals and nurse the pups from mammary glands. Each female recognizes her pups voice and smell and will nurse only her pup.
~During migrations to Mexico and back, bats may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet and velocities of 60 miles per hour.
Oh, and how could I forget to mention the great food we ate while in Austin...You cannot say you've been to Austin if you have not eaten a bucket of ribs and brisket at RUDY's COUNTRY STORE and Bar-B-Q (http://rudys.com/). The sign on the wall of the old barn converted into a "BBQ depot" reads "The Worst Bar-B-Q in the Country" but don't you believe it! It has to be the BEST. There are no plates at Rudy's and what they humorously do call "plates" are nothing more than sheets of waxed paper.
And Whataburger...it was quite a burger.
And Just Like You Like It!
We have plenty to praise God for; wonderful friends to share life with.
8/17 Mindy and Katie came to see my mom 
8/21 Oh, how I love talking to my elephant friend!
Great Grandma and Grandpa Ringenberg Great Grandma Unger
6/16 Four generations...all thirty years apart. Grandma had Mom when she was thirty, Mom had me when she was thirty, and I had Maria when I was thirty...(only 4 days until I turned 31 though! We just barely made the deadline.)
6/21 We went to meet new cousin, Joshua, born on June 12, and to see Great Nana Saunders. Gosh, Joshua sure makes Maria look like a baldy!
6/28 We were up at church camp to visit our youth one night the same week that "Aunt" Katie was there so we made a surprise visit to her.