In Honor of my Nephew and New Niece

A romantic photo...

The actual wedding and celebration with only family invited was Friday. Tomorrow is the wedding and bigger celebration with all their friends invited. So much to do!! They've been staying by a house on the lake and spending time with all their family who has flown in to see them this weekend. So much fun playing at Austin's Parks and Pizza with them yesterday, and having brunch at Cannoli Joe's with them today. What amazing people to be so gracious to their family and those who came to see them marry by spending time with them on their honeymoon. I love my nephew so much and am so glad he has such an amazing woman in his life that has a big of heart as he has, and just as big and crazy of a family, too. And Happy Father's Day, honey. Thank you for giving up your father's day to help me pick up and organize flowers.

Wild Basin

I apologize for the delay in posting - was waiting until I was able to upgrade google storage for my photos!

Ever since I heard that Wild Basin has waterfalls years ago, I have been wanting to hike it. Only, I heard that it costs to park so it tended to fall low on my priority list of hiking options when the opportunities came up. Until Martin Luther King day when we decided to splurge on a hike close to home and go. It may have been a holiday fluke, but as luck would have it parking was absolutely free!

The hike exceeded my every expectation. After a steady decline downhill along tree covered paths,with cute little wooden signs pointing the way,and gorgeous spanning views of the hill country, we happened upon the breathtaking waterfall - the largest one I've seen in Austin. The rain a few days earlier helped the steady rush of water, a fact I had counted on when choosing this particular hike that day.The perfect place for kids to explore and run around, as the waterfall was located a little hike down from the pathway. Our boys weren't the only ones running around exploring every nook and cranny.
The second waterfall just opposite the large waterfall was a pleasant surprise. The hike back up along a babbling brook,near heart rocks, past peaceful benches & twisted roots, as well as up a steady incline, definitely deserved water which we neglected to bring, but the resulting amazing hillside views more than made up for it. A hillside view we didn't get pictures of for lack of breath and water, but one we will definitely peruse more on our next venture to Wild Basin. I can't wait!

Winter Wonderland

Snowboarding at Northstar was amazing! This year I was determined we would make it to the snow, and that's how we ended up at Northstar for Christmas week. Special thanks to Brando's Mom for loaning, borrowing, and buying enough snow gear so that the only thing we had to rent was snow boots for Justinbustin.
At Northstar we took advantage of the small ratio of students to instructors at Burton Academy. While it was more costly, I figured since we only had one day there we might as well make the most out of it. I definitely didn't want to walk away without knowing how to snowboard, and I wanted Brando to actually have some time to have fun boarding the slopes and not have to be stuck like glue to us the entire time.
I'm so glad I took lessons while Brando took the runs from the top of the mountain to the bottom more than several times. My knees were burning but I was able to go down the bunny hill four or five times, and I can definitely get on my new snowboard with a gorgeous peacock on it that I heart, and do a little shredding. The kids took their lessons separate from me - thank goodness because I saw too many parents dragging crying children down the slopes. Justinbustin was catching air by the end of the day, taking the bunny hill by himself and trying to catch the fresh powder in the trees. In between boarding lessons we had lunch together and convinced a cold handed Shawners to go back out and finish his lesson by lining his gloves with hand warmers and another pair of gloves. Shawners was more on my level by the end of the day, but loved it, telling me he caught air then flipped and his board hit his head, he finished his story by saying how awesome it was.

The day was clear and gorgeous. Just before the end of the day the resort turned into a winter wonderland with gorgeous huge flakes of snow for a bit.

Before the end of the day, we boarded around together for a bit, watched Justinbustin come down the run a few times, and watched Shawners walk in knee high snow before heading back down the mountain on the gondola.

Going on our first trip to the snow ever as a family (and the kids and my first time ever) was a complete success and I still can hardly believe we went. What an amazing trip!

A Quiet Moment

My dork of a hubby happens to be playing video games at a LAN party with eighteen other guys, so I finally have a quiet moment where I'm not chauffering kids around, trying new activities, spending time with B, or sleeping.

I am trying to catch up on the Bachelorette before next girls night, though :) , so this will be quick.

My birthday was this week! I turned the glorious 29! Cannot WAIT for my thirties when I will know everything *wink*. Since April I have had a boat reserved for my birthday and the moment finally came to enjoy it this last Sunday. After the initial freakout from sitting in the bow of the boat on the way out of the choppy marina, it was a BLAST. From beautiful lake scenery,

to watermelon mojitos,

to attempting to wakeboard (this is me attempting to water ski in too big water skis, but water skiing I've done before any way),

to watching the boys tube and have a blast,

to laughing with my boys and girlfriends,

to watching my sexy hubby wakeboard,

to dinner and drinks that smiled at me at Carlos n Charlie's after.

Austin's Tasty Up Trailer Tour

Because it's rainy and ugly, and I want it to be the weather where I could do this again right now.

Jackie and Ryan joined the four of us for Austin's Tasty Up Trailer Tour,

the brainchild of Addie Broyles and Jodi of Tasty Touring. In the spirit of the latest and greatest craze of delicious and local food, the Tasty Up is a fabulous concept involving under $3 menu choices at some of the most delicious trailers tour stops around Austin. As a result, allowing one to try way more than one trailer on one budget, and one tummy. Our first stop was La Boite

for our nametags

and free french press coffee

starting the tour off right. Their concept of french pastries makes me excited to try them again.

This was the absolute fabulous scene that greeted us and made my heart smile.

Our boys joined us for this event, and surprisingly buried themselves in books

while we enjoyed our coffee then waited at our infamous second stop.

Our second stop was The Texas Cuban, a hot pressed sandwich joint that reminded me of a bbq joint mixed with a little international flair.

Unfortunately a forty minute wait ended with a refund as they were totally unprepared for the crowds that awaited them and started giving out refunds by the handful.

Hope they took me up on my suggestion of announcing via twitter another day where you could obtain their Trailer Tour specials to make up for it. Unfortunately, I'm not aware if they did. Their one redeeming quality was their Dr. Pepper with Imperial Sugar.

Quite a treat for my boys who are normally denied soda by Mommy.

Our third stop was Odd Duck farm to trailer, a fabulous concept of small plates of gourmet food, headed up by Bryce, former sous chef of Cafe 909 in Marble Falls, who also happens to be the son of the owner of Z'Tejas Grill. Fortunately we were fourth in line because the line quickly grew.

Shawners was fascinated with the cooking process,

as was I last time I came. The choices this time were equally amazing.

We ordered the grilled half quail with sweet potato puree, pecans, and sage,

the carrot soup shot with paprika,

and the gulf shrimp with citrus marinated cauliflower.

The only item I wasn't a fan of was the shrimp, with it tasting a little fishy to me, but the rest of the group loved it. The carrot soup shot was absolutely amazing. Shawners had his first quail ever in the form of a tiny drumstick, and wanted more when he was done. I had to have a picture, but he was very upset about that.

Our fourth stop was Gourdough's.

Delicious yumminess in the form of doughnuts - and in this particular case, five donut holes. If I remember what all they were - Flying Pig, bacon with maple syrup icing, Slow Burn, habarnero pepper jelly with cream cheese icing, Miss Shortcake, cream cheese icing with fresh cut strawberries, and Coco Loco, coconut filling with cream cheese and pineapple icing.

I wish they offered these on a regular basis because it's all I can handle of the overboard calorific deliciousness. As a side note, a doughnut from there does last me five days.

Our fifth stop was Austin Daily Press, a hot bed of panninis, only on crispier, crunchier, yummier bread.

Oh. my. goodness. My favorite stop on the trailer tour at this point.

I ordered the Mozzarello, Roma Tomato, and Balsamic Pesto,

and Jackie ordered the Meatball, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Marinara, both which came in their adorable and ecogreen wrapping.

Both were amazing, although I preferred mine. Especially because I gave my square of the meatball to Brando since he couldn't eat the pine nuts in the pesto.

The setting here struck me the most

with the fire pit

next to the babbling brook,

the painted spools to gather around, eat, and talk on a warm summer night,

and the fun little kid toys my boys had way too much fun with.

They have this location on South 1st during the day and are open in the parking lot of the Mohawk at night for a healthy late night alternative when you've had too much fun watching live music and drinking good drinks at the Mohawk, Stubb's, or Emo's nearby.

Our sixth stop was the much talked about G'raj Mahal, an Indian food trailer with a totally unexpected outdoor seating area

and even more unexpected art.

Even though their undeveloped website makes me giggle with! the! exclamation! marks!, I don't really think Indian food sits well with me at all. This is the second time I've had it and the second time I wasn't impressed. The first time Brando had a major allergic reaction (apparently they use a lot of pistachios in there sauces, the nut Brando happens to be allergic to most - who knew?). The second time neither of our throats or stomachs sat well afterwards and all we had was a samosa.

Also, the Kulfi was not a hit with even our most ice cream loving man, Shawners. As I read the description now "pistachio-cardamom kulfi" I'm realllly glad Brando didn't eat it. The rest of our group seemed to enjoy their samosas though.

Our next stop was not on the trailer tour, but a pleasant little surprise nonetheless. Town Market serves as a teeny little two story

natural convenience store for the apartment building above it and around it. Their selection gave you a healthy array of plenty of quick meal and snack options

and their bread display was enviable with a view of the lake on one side and a view of the high rise condos on the other.

Tiny, but adequate, we spent a good fifteen minutes in here chatting with the guy running it,

who informed us the store was an offshoot of Cissi's Market, another local favorite.

Our final stop was on the east side and involved parking a ways down the street as we attempted an unsuccesful stop prior, but the walk was enjoyable and much needed for our full tummies. I love the feel of the east side and the unique character in the buildings.

Also, I love that Mai joined us for a moment on her last day before heading off for tour for way too long.

Trailer Perk turned out to be my second favorite of the day,

with their half price coffees

and hot chocolates for the boys suckering me in,

and their way too fresh and delicious Kasey Shayne sandwich with roast beef, provolone, fresh tomato, and chimichurri.

This was my first time tasting chimichurri, which appears similar to pesto but is made of fresh parsley, oregano, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and it was oh so delicious. As our last stop we stayed, chatted,

and rested (notice Brando in the back)

for a bit.

We were exhausted after our last round and all too content to go home full and happy. The way to our hearts was definitely through our tummies that day, and I can't wait to eat at the majority of these places again.