ACL // Asian Invasian

Cousins Grace, Dane, Tessa & Rona came for a long weekend to check out Austin and attend ACL. They went all 3 days, while Ed and I met up with them just for Sunday's line up of Fitz & the Tantrums, Phantagram, Lorde and Pearl Jam. It was good to have a mini-reunion and all had a good time touring the city, eating lots of BBQ and Filipino cravings, playing games at night and hanging out with the kids. Tessa and Rona even saw Andre 3000, lead singer of Outcast at the airport on their way out of town! Their visit also overlapped with Lola Linda's who came for a week and a half. Bobby was able to join for the last weekend and they attended a wedding in town. They made sure to get their authentic boots and hats for the occasion : ) When in Texas... right? The kids loved seeing Lola and Papa Bobby and got in lots of snuggles and play time. On Saturday night, while Linda and Bobby were at the wedding, we took the kids to a Diwali Festival, the Indian celebration of lights. The kids had fun getting their faces painted, listening to Indian music & dancing, and even stayed up for the fireworks. Ed, Morgan and a bunch of kids were playing catch and Morgan was throwing and catching with more accuracy than ever! I think the daily Brain Balance eye tracking exercises are paying off! The next day for Ed's bday, we got a sitter and went out to Salty Sow, followed by a visit with friends on their rooftop with a view of the city skyline. It was great just to relax with family and thanks especially to Linda for helping me out with the kids after my foot surgery -- that was a huge help!

Linda dancing with the D.I. at White Horse

ACL

Phantagram

Lorde

Lorde

Andre 3000

Torchy's

Diwali Festival

birthday dinner at Salty Sow

with Rashmi and Bavish at the top of Skyhouse

Uncle Darren in town

Days after Donna and Mariah left, we welcomed Darren for a few days of play. We knew beer would be on the agenda, so made sure to give him plenty of selection. First was a local butcher/brew shop called Salt + Time on the east side for lunch. The food was solid and Steven was able to meet us up too. Afterwards, Steven and Darren headed out to Jester King Brewery in Dripping Springs while Ed and I went back to the grind. That night Steven, Darren and I had dinner (and enjoyed Polka music) at Bangers & Mash on Rainy St. The sausage was tasty as was the beer selection. This had been on my "must take Darren to" list since I had heard about it a couple years ago. Afterwards, we had a drink at another bar just down the street featuring all Texas beers, of which Darren knew 1/50 taps. That's a first. We then headed over to the east side to check out White Horse, a country-music playing, two-stepping bar with a low-key vibe. Then it was around the corner to Volstead Lounge where we enjoyed the nice weather on the outdoor patio. The next day, we tailgated at Steven's place with Brown's BBQ and beer pong before heading to the UT vs. Baylor game which we sadly lost. As a bonus though, we did get a glance at Matthew McConaughey who was in the box above our section. That night, Ed cooked steaks and we played corn hole in the back yard, then Cards Against Humanity after the kids went to bed. Sunday, Darren and I took the kids to Hamilton Pool while Ed played (and won) his tennis match. Ed again cooked a delicious dinner for us and then Steven and Darren checked out ABGB, a fairly new brewery in our neighborhood, right on the train tracks. The next morning, Darren and I grabbed coffee and breakfast tacos before heading to the airport. It was great to spend some time together and just hang out over the long weekend. Glad you came out and looking forward to spending more time in Dec with the whole Oberstar/Prager clan.

That's Matthew McConaughey between the
2 flags, in the Longhorn shirt

picnic lunch at Hamilton Pool

Fall Fun

Between all the visitors, we've been having some fun with the boys taking them to slot car racing, birthday parties and experiencing every day silliness. Morgan's also been doing great riding Jonas' old big boy bike as you can see here.

Mariah & Donna visit

We were happy to host Donna and Mariah, neither of whom had ever been to Austin. Touring the city quickly turned to an eating tour of the city, as we had our fill of Hula Hut, Gourdough's, Rudy's, Torchy's, Salt Lick and Tex-Mex. We took them to most of the usual spots: Mt. Bonnell, hiking at Mayflower Preserve & Hamilton Pool (where Mariah encountered a snake in her face!), a day in San Antonio, shopping on S. Congress and the mall (even found a Homecoming dress for Mariah!) and a movie at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. We were even able to catch some live music at Salt Lick, where they played "Ring of Fire" for Mariah : ) At night, we exercised our Bananagram muscles. Donna and I will get our revenge on Ed at the beach house I suppose! One evening, we rented a boat for a sunset tour of Lady Bird Lake, culminating in a view of the bats emerging from Congress Bridge. The boys loved having their cousin Mariah around to play with. Mariah loved all the old trucks here -- she would like right at home driving hers around town here : ) We had a great time and so glad you guys came out to visit. Now we just need to get Marc and Luke to come!

Mt. Bonnell

your welcome

wiping off Peacock poop

at Salt Lick

dancing to the music at Salt Lick. reminds me of
that photo of Marc holding Mariah at my wedding : )

Hamilton Pool

feeding the turtles

Ed driving our boat through the muck

the navigator

 

here come the bats!

Dean turned Donna's eye mask into a bikini top

Band of Brothers

So we are officially a musical family now I guess. After a lot of talking, we got a piano this week. Morgan has expressed interest in learning and while Dean is too young to start guitar, he did get a real one to play on. They both have their first piano lesson this Tuesday, so we'll see how that goes. In the meantime, even mommy and daddy are taking advantage and learning songs to play.

First Day of Kindergarten

This Monday was a big day: Morgan's first day of Kindergarten at Becker Elementary. It was an early morning, which will take some getting used to, followed by a 10 minute walk to school with the family. Morgan was in good spirits and did fine going into his classroom with his teacher. I, on the other hand, found myself teary eyed as I walked with Dean and Ed back home. This was a big moment for our big guy and we are proud of him. At the end of the day, he said he had fun, although there "wasn't as much playing" as he thought : ) He did get excited when describing the playground equipment to me though.

The next couple days were a little tougher, as drop off was at the school-wide assembly vs. his classroom. I think all the people, noise and stimulus was too much for him and he refused to let me leave his side until his class walked back to the room. We're working on being brave and dealing with the overwhelming feelings as he makes this transition. Welcome to the Becker Bobcats, Morgan!