Trial Run

Lola had gotten Morgan a kite for Christmas and with the annual Zilker Kite Festival next weekend, we thought we'd break it in. It was a high of 77 degrees today so we headed to Auditorium Shores for the boys inaugural kite flying experience. There was enough wind by the river and the boys were amazed to see how high the Macaw kite could soar. They both took turns holding the handle. Note to self: don't trust a 2 year old to listen when you tell them "don't let go" : ) 

Happy 18th Birthday Jackie

Had a girls spa weekend in Scottsdale, AZ with Jackie and Elisa to celebrate Jackie's 18th birthday this past weekend. Ed was brave enough to take the kids for the whole weekend so I could have some relaxation time and remember what it's like to not hear my name 100 times/hour (thank you! thank you! thank you!!!) The weather was great and we spent time laying by the pool, eating out and getting massages. One morning we decided to go on a 1.3 mile "moderate" hike which we were thinking we could breeze through in 30 minutes. Wrong. It was a rocky trail up a mountain/canyon that just kept going up. Every time we thought we reached the summit, the trail would continue around a bend, mocking us with a steep rocky path that disappeared in the distance. In the end, we pushed through to the top. The view of the city below was stunning and worth the effort. The downhill was not as bad as we were anticipating and 2 hours from when we began, we made it to the bottom. I'd hate to see what the difficulty rating would be...

Thank you Elisa for having me join you guys. It was great to spend time together, especially before Jackie goes off to college. Oh, and anyone else who's reading this, don't ever see the movie "This is 40". It was my pick and it was the most depressing comedy I've ever seen.

What do you mean this isn't the summit???

 

Finally at the summit

ACL Live with The XX

 

ACL Live at the Moody Theater has always been on our Austin bucket list. We finally got a chance to see a concert at this intimate and famous venue Tuesday night when The XX rolled into town. (We had bought tickets back in November). It was pretty cool and the band was great, although after a while my lack of sleep from the previous weekend was calling me to bed. I would definitely go back again sometime, it had a great series of outdoor decks for drinks beforehand and there's really not a bad seat in the house.

A visit from Darren and Poppy

We like Cold Beverages

Uncle Darren and Poppy came for a weekend visit this past weekend so we got some good use out of the futons. It was fairly warm so we were able to eat outside at the Beer Garden at Botticelli's for dinner Friday. Uncle Steven joined us and it was nice to catch up, relax and listen to some live music. Saturday was rainy but didn't stop us from brunch at Kerbey Lane, a UT basketball game for the guys, BBQ at Rudy's followed by the G. Love concert at Stubb's. Luckily the rain had stopped by then and G. Love did not disappoint. We had a fairly close view and enjoyed the show, especially towards the end when he took subjects from the people in the front row and free-styled lyrics that sounded rehearsed. It was awesome! Afterwards, we checked out Easy Tiger, a bakery by day/bar by night which I had been to a handful of times and remembered it to be a big beer place (since we all know how into beer Darren and Steven are). Well, apparently, it was a rare beer mecca and Darren was all over it. Steven was psyched to show it to his friends now that they're all 21 : ) Sunday we cooked a big breakfast before heading out to the airport. The visit was short, but sweet. It always means a lot to spend the time with family.

Well, That Was Quick

So, uh, we bought a house. It just kinda happened but we are excited. It's about 12 blocks west of where we currently are and the school is good. It's a new construction home, so won't be ready until September. The kids will have their own rooms as well as an open play area/loft for all their toys. Guess it'll be time to ship all our stuff from Maryland that's been sitting in storage. We will have a guest bedroom so y'all come visit, ya hear?