Easter paradise

Easter and spring just go along. There's something beautiful about walking around nature and seeing all the green, color and wildlife. For our Easter we went to Zilker Botanical Garden (which is free!!), and were amazed at this paradise that is right outside of downtown Austin.

Adrian's almost as tall as a dinosaur -- well, a plant dinosaur.

There is even a butterfly garden. We saw quite a few large ones, and blue ones.

I look like I'm in a tropical locale.

A beautiful mama tree -- and a lizard!

In the Oriental Garden.

The peaceful and beautiful Oriental Garden.

We love bamboo.

There was even a cactus garden.

Yep, all of this right outside downtown Austin.

We enjoyed some yummy Rita's Italian Ice after our stroll through paradise.

A different kind of hike

The past few weeks I have been busy getting acclimated to my new job and schedule, but I'm not one to be all work and no play. And since the weather has been a-ma-zing, we've tried to spend as much time outside on the weekends as we can.

A good representation of the trails.

Yesterday, we went with a friend of mine on a hike in the Greenbelt. The Greenbelt is just southwest of downtown and has amazing hiking and biking trails; there are even cliffs for those who want to go rock climbing. This was my first experience do anything outdoorsy in Austin. I'm still amazed at how green this area is. Hiking in Austin is quite different than the hiking I've done in the Utah mountains, but it's still just as much fun. Next time, we want to hike on the other side where there's a waterfall and we can go swimming. 
 
We have some other excursions planned for the next few months, especially since I've been told that now is the perfect weather to do all the outdoor activities (I believe it since yesterday was around 90 degrees with a nice breeze and what I would classify as a perfect day). It feels wonderful to know that all these activities are so close.