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?

House Hunters goes to Austin

Kinda big news. It's been a roller coaster for us. With our lease running out here in a matter of months, we started looking at rental properties (in good school districts this time) and our search was turning up crap. Inventory is at 98% here as Austin is quickly becoming a popular place to live. So... it became clear that if we want to stay in Austin another couple years, which is what we are leaning towards, we would have more options if we bought a house, and then at least would be paying less per month. The idea would be to eventually rent it out after we leave since we know how in demand rentals are from our own experience. We already knew a real estate agent out here and he casually showed us some homes, and one we just LOVED. Or I should say I loved since I'm the emotional buyer : ) Yes, it all happened quickly but we put a contract on the house, which was accepted after some negotiation. All seemed perfect -- it checked all the boxes: newly updated, great school, 4 bedrooms, etc. until... inspection day. Unfortunately the inspection turned up some major foundation problems that we were not willing to take on, so we had no choice but to back out of the contract. So, it's been a lot of highs and lows this month but we feel good about the decision. We will continue to look, but honestly, there's no telling where we'll be 6 months from now.

I'm sorry, is it almost February?

Wow, a blogless whole month. And there's a lot to catch up on, so I'm going to dive right in: Lola came to visit for 8 days. Ed was gone for half of it on a work trip, so I was happy to have the help and we did some fun things like the Luminarium (you might recognize pictures from last year), a day trip to San Antonio, dance lessons at the Broken Spoke (a legendary Texan dance hall), lots of shopping and even more eating. The boys were happy to spend time with Lola and Dean kept saying "I love you Lola Linda!"

 

 The Luminarium is a traveling exhibit/maze made out of zippered nylon with thin colored pieces that allow light to shine through. It's like walking into a kaleidescope. Dean was too young last year, but this year, he's a runner and it was hard to keep up with them in there!

The Broken Spoke is one of those places in Austin that has not been touched in decades. It is a classic honky tonk bar/venue with live music and where some big country stars like Willie Nelson and George Straight have played. I'm not much for country, but I had heard that this was authentic cowboy territory, so thought it would be fun to just see. On certain nights they give dance lessons, and we all know how Lola likes to dance, so thought it was the perfect opportunity to go. Ed hung back with the kids while Siiri, Linda and I went. The place is a shack, not much more than a barn, with low ceilings and slanted floors. We got our drinks and were just planning on watching the dance lessons and listen to the music, but they were 3 girls short of partners, so guess who got volunteered : ) For an hour, we learned the Texas 2 step - it was fun and we were laughing a lot. I have often told Ed that if there was one thing I could change about him, it'd be to make him taller, but after dancing for an hour with a man who's shoulder was above my head, I'm glad I don't have to get neck cramps just to look into Ed's eyes.

Lessons: Linda on the girls side (like 7th grade)

Siiri and her partner