Hot Rod Heaven

 

All kinds of customized, antique and tricked out cars (and their quirky drivers) descended upon Austin for the Annual Lone Star Round Up. It takes place at the convention center downtown, but the overflow of people and fans line up and down S. Congress Street - literally - setting up lawn chairs along the sidewalk to watch the colorful, LOUD cars as they drive up and down and then back again. It was entertaining to see the least - I think the crowds were just as interesting as the cars themselves. We set out for an early dinner Friday to get a table outside so the kids could have front row seats. Morgan of course was so into it and we're pretty sure Dean liked it too by the way he was pointing at everything. Here are some highlights:

Our table at HopDoddy

notice the keg in the back

 

Aw yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about

You had me at "Howdy"

!!!2012-2013 Tour Date Announcement!!! Now that our lease here will be ending May 27, we started planning our next destination. We have many weddings and family commitments on the East Coast this summer so traveling back and forth just didn't make any sense. Rich and Jill have graciously offered to house us over the summer at their place in Clarksburg so we'll be back in town for lots of visits with family and friends. With their 3 kids and a basement full of toys, it'll be like camp!

The question then became where to after that??? Charleston, SC was our next stop, but the more we looked into it and started researching housing, the more we realized how much we'd miss Austin. So... we decided to come back for another 9 month stint starting at the end of August. We were able to get Morgan enrolled in the same school and just this week secured a furnished vacation rental not far from where we are now.

So if you didn't get to visit us this time, "y'all" now have a second chance! We don't know where we'll end up after that -- who knows. We are keeping an open mind and just seeing where the next year takes us. Part of the adventure I guess but I know we can't be nomads forever!

Easter Weekend

Egg Hunt at Zilker Park

 Easter Weekend brought lots of fun, starting with an egg hunt in Zilker Park on Friday. Morgan was one of the biggest kids there, so he was very into it and quick to collect his eggs. Dean on the other hand, wanted to open each one upon finding it, and although he got the hang of putting it into the basket, he was more like forcefully dunking it into the basket.

Easter Weekend just isn't complete without a parade of dogs in drag, and that's exactly what took place down S. Congress Street on Saturday. Random but fun!

Our friends Nam and Mimi were in town with their 2 boys, so on Sunday we took them to Ruta Maya for some live music and then to the Lady Bird Wildflower Center to see the blue bonnets in full bloom.

Easter may be over, but the candy remains... for now.

Molly's visit

Morgan's ex-nanny Molly made the trip out to see us (and especially Morgan : ) It was great to see her and spend some good quality time together. Morgan and Molly just picked up where they left off, instant friends and playmates. Having never been to Austin before we took Molly to our go-to spots (that we've been frequenting a lot latey!) like Rudy's BBQ, a walk down S. Congress, the Zilker Zephyr, and of course lots of eating at trailers (hope the dress fitting goes ok Molly : ) We at least got some workouts in there too though, like tennis and bike riding. It's been so hot that we even took Morgan to the pool one day! It's been almost a year since he's been, but he just loved it and had a smile on his face the entire time. And we even squeezed in some adult nights out: Molly and I went to the Easy Tiger Beer Garden one night while Ed and Molly went to Perla's for oysters, then Continental Club for live music another night.

Since Morgan will be the ring bearer this summer at Molly & Brandon's wedding, we even did a trial run down the long hallway in our house. It went ok, but I think we need more practice. It might be different when everyone in the room is staring at him! Thanks Molly for coming out -- we had fun and it was great to see you!

Wow, the Dominican sure looks a lot like Austin...

(Insert beautiful pristine beach shot here)

Ed won his incentive trip for 2011 sales: 4 days, 3 nights in Cap Cana's new Fishing Lodge resort. Luxury accommodations included private villas with infinity pools that feed into the larger resort pool so you don't even have to set foot on land! Personally, I was very excited to have 4 kid-free days where we could sleep in, sip cocktails and just totally veg out. We flew my mom in from North Carolina to stay with the kids (thanks mom!) but things didn't really go as planned. Upon check-in at the Austin airport, we discovered that my passport was expired. I was so upset with myself. I mean I used to be the most detail oriented person I know. A double-checker to the point where I was borderline anal. How did this happen? It was like from a scene in a movie and I'd think "Yeah right, how could they let that happen???" Well, it did and my oversight cost us the trip. We tried to make the best of it though, taking advantage of my mom being in town to babysit often while Ed and I enjoyed the sights of Austin. We got massages, went bike riding, played tennis, ate out and saw some live music and even a movie. It was great, but we still had kids jumping on our bed at 7:30; not quite the vacation I had in mind.

So a BIG sorry out to Ed, who handled all it all great by the way. I think I was the one who was more upset. Thanks for not being mad at me and I promise it will never happen again ; )

Rodeo Austin

on the ferris wheel

I figure if there's any time to wear my cowboy hat, it's at a Texas rodeo... Went to Rodeo Austin one overcast day recently and although we opted to not see the actual rodeo show, we hung out at the fairgrounds and enjoyed the nonexistent lines. Dean had his first ride ever, shotgun to Morgan who chose a hot pink corvette. I think I had that same Barbie car when I was little : ) Many rides and (yikes!) $70 later, the kids were tired and ready to get home. Morgan's favorite is still the ferris wheel.

the twins

SXSW for Rookies

So today concludes the 2-week South by Southwest madness where tens of thousands of people descend upon Austin to enjoy the latest in interactive, film and music. Basically, for two whole weeks there are a bajillion events, speakers, concerts, parties, film premieres, etc going on all the time all day. Streets are blocked off and a walk down S. Congress provides great people watching and live music every 20 feet. We've even been listening to music from our house as the bar a few doors down sounds like it's playing in our backyard. Good thing the kids have been able to sleep through it!

Although we did not buy a badge or a pass, we knew we wanted to get some SXSW exposure, so headed to some of the free events. First off was a party featuring live music from the T-Bird and The Breaks, Dale Earnheardt Jr. Jr., and Delta Spirit (thanks for babysitting Siiri!). Our intention was to flit around to a couple different events that night, but once we got in (after waiting 40 mins in the rain) and scored front row seats, we didn't want to leave. So we enjoyed the free drinks and music and although we weren't really familiar with the bands, they were great and it was a lot of fun.

Ed was out of town for most of the first week, but I did take the kids to a free outdoor concert behind Jo's coffee one night. Dean loved watching the musicians and moving to the music while Morgan asked to leave after 3 songs : ) I also ended up taking them to the Screen Burn Arcade trade show which is supposed to be the latest in video game technology and you can play games and people dress up as their favorite video character. Someone had told me it was family friendly and really fun but I guess that person was a gamer because I wasn't really into it. Morgan did enjoy watching some people play a racing game though.

I also attended a music poster design trade show where I bought 4 posters for Dean's future big boy room (whenever that will happen!) I think I will center the theme around those. Thought it was a good fit for him since he loooooooves music, he's got the rock star attitude, plus it would be a nice reminder of our time here in Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World.

Lastly, we attended the free line-up at Auditorium Shores on Saturday including Bright Light Social Hour, Shiny Toy Guns and The Cult. We biked there with the kids in the trailer (I had learned my lesson from trying to drive to the poster show and spending an hour parking) and the crowds were not as bad as I had anticipated. We parked in a far corner so the kids could run around, ate some food from the trailers and met up with friends. The weather was perfect; all in all a good end to the whole SXSW experience.

T-Bird and The Breaks at The Belmont

The boys loved riding in the trailer (don't worry - they had helmets!)

Shiny Toy Guns at Auditorium Shores

Our future rock star

The Cult at Auditorium Shores