Spring Break 2015: Austin for 6

"But it's South by Southwest this week."  "But it's supposed to rain for three days."  "But don't you remember there's four of them?  And two are babies?"  There are times in life when you have to just gird your loins and go.  We planned (a little).  We packed (a lot).

We went.

 Miraculously, no sudden stops caused that high chair teetering on top of a pile of crap to fly through my car and decapitate everyone.


Lunch on the road.  Kudos to whoever convinced the highway authority to put the Sonic logo on the "food" sign at the La Grange exit.  That sucker was about three miles off 71.


"Why, yes, dear, this Sonic stop is definitely worth memorializing.  Make sure you capture the chipped paint shaped like Eastern Europe."



Big Sonic fans, these two.


We got adjoining rooms.  Brian, ever the optimist, lobbied to put all four kids in one room while we slept blissfully on the other side of a door slightly ajar.  Visions of 3:00 am screaming babies and midnight pillow fights and zombie children during the day ran through my head, but I agreed to try it for our first night, thinking, this will be one of those moments when I will get credit for listening to my husband while also ultimately being vindicated for knowing what is best for our kids, and all it will cost me is one night of sleep.

Well, dear friends, never let it be said that I cannot admit when my dear husband is right.  HE WAS RIGHT!  All four slept like angels all three nights.

Watching Paddington Bear before bed

Austin adventure #1:  An afternoon of play and pizza with the Nogalskis.  These kids played like they were old pals.   And actually, they are.  Luke was one of Amanda's first ever friends!  What a fun time.  And, Jen, thank you for letting my babies destroy your toys!

 Austin adventure #2:  Exploring Barton Creek while dad plays golf

The Barton Creek Resort Nature Trail.  These are the kinds of hikes I can handle.  About half a mile long, and pool time and frozen piña coladas when you're done.

Fitting in a little playground time

Austin Adventure #4:  Playdate with Dana and her twins, and dinner at Phil's Ice House with a HUGE crew.  (Clockwise from Colin (in the gray hat up front), Amanda, Dana, Leila, Niklas, Rory, Jennie (holding baby Eamon but you can't see him), Jody, Elizabeth, me, J.J., (Brian took the picture and Dana's husband Santosh hadn't arrived yet.)  What a CIRCUS!  But we got to catch up with people we love and introduce them to each other which is even better.  Dana and her family are recent Austin transplants from NYC, where she and I cut our teeth together as young lawyers.  

Austin Adventure #5:  Tennis with Dad

Flip flops, dude? 

Austin Adventure #6:  Guerros for lunch.  Despite resolving to avoid Austin proper because of South by Southwest, we couldn't bring ourselves to miss an opportunity to introduce the kids to Guerros on South Congress.  

Not quite sure what Brian is smiling at there.  Maybe it was our drink order arriving...

Austin Adventure #7:  The Fredericks!  The Frederick kids are awesome.  Not surprising...apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and all that.  Amanda and Maggie are such kindred spirits it makes me sad they don't get to see each other more.  

Austin Adventure #8:  Leaving town.  You can't see the license plate in this blurry picture, but it says, "CIVPRO," and is the personalized license plate of the most feared Civil Procedure professor at UT Law.  Brian took her class fifteen years ago.  Somehow, she ended up in front of us as we were heading out of Westlake.  Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?

And that concludes our latest Austin adventure.  We did it!  (Cue the Dora music...)