St. Petersburg Family Reunion

....And for the final trip in July (yes, we traveled A LOT last month), we went down to St. Pete beach in Florida for a family reunion on Marsh's side to celebrate his Aunt Joanne and Aunt (Dodo) Dorothy's birthdays. Joanne turned 80 and Dodo turned 79 last month ....wow!!!

The brothers (Lashar, Al, and Marsh) with Aunt Dodo

It was a ton of fun (despite the wicked sunburn I got after being an idiot for too long on the beach without enough --or strong enough- sunscreen!). Marsh and I flew down on a Thursday and met the boys (Justin and Collin) later that evening at the airport. It was one family member after another flying in from all over the place .....it was a bit crazy!!

Marsh and I at the Inn on the Beach (a bunch of us stayed here, we practically took over the place ;)

Marsh's cousin John, his partner Lance, Me, and Marsh having way too good of a time!!

the Portland faction of our family: Elizabeth, Aria, and Myra!

our Oklahoma City niece and nephew, Margaux and James (cute :)

Justin, Me, and Collin at the beach (before the rain rolled in and the sunburn set in ...ooww!)

....so, these are just some highlights and I will post another slideshow (top right of blog) to view as there are many photos, per usual :) ....With the exception of the barely tolerable humidity levels known to present themselves during July in Florida (...ahh, ..duh!), we really enjoyed our time. Lots of storytelling surrounding events from the past, catching up, drinking (of course), eating (...again, of course!), live bluegrass music courtesy of family members Diane and Clay, and time with family which truly is priceless and never taken for granted (even if you have to sweat it out ...that's what sangria is for ;) ....Good stuff!!

My Kind of Town, Chicago!

While we were up in Wisconsin in July, Marsh, Justin, Collin and I took a train down to Chicago to visit David and spend a few days exploring the Windy City (since the boys have never been here) ....this photo was taken on top of the building where David lives downtown. It's our family "album cover"....ha! However, I am PETRIFIED of heights like this, but I think I managed pretty well all things considered. Justin and Collin, on the other hand, thought David's place was "the bomb" (or something like that, anyway ;) ....

..my triplet bro, David and I :)

hangin' out on David's balcony ...

....We also went to the Sears Tower, Shedd's Aquarium, checked out a show at Second City, and a few other cool things in the city. I'm going to throw the rest of the pics in a slideshow for you. Marsh and I wanted to go on an architectural tour of the city that you do while cruising on the river along downtown, but the boys vetoed that (boooo!! ...next time I guess). I did get some great architectural pics like the one below: ....I wish I could remember what building this was ...oops, my ignorant bad, but it is one of many beautiful buildings throughout the downtown Chicago area. I also took many pictures at the aquarium and will leave you with one of my favorites of the Moray eel (in honor of David, of course, who I nicknamed "Moray" many years ago!! Here you are, Davey ...this one's for you ;)

Summer Bliss and Family Fun in Wisconsin

We ventured to Port Washington with the boys beginning of July to see my side of the family and share in the celebration of Katja's baptism (our new niece, remember??). Andria and I are officially godmothers and I am honored and humbled ....thank you, Kierstin and Tim.....

Beautiful baby Katja.....

....Anyway, it was a great trip and the weather was absolutely FANTASTIC!!! I, quite frankly, did not want to leave and enjoyed the break from the insane Texas heat. I got to see every one of my nieces and nephews that I love so, so very much and had such a fun time playing with them. The problem is, it never seems to be enough time whenever we go home and the trips always go by way too fast.....sigh......We had a pizza party one night, among other things, the baptism, and time to just enjoy family. We also took Justin and Collin to see David and Chicago (for the first time) for a couple of nights (that's my next post....have patience....) So, I'm going to throw in a few "highlights" pictures below, but will have a slideshow up in the corner by the weekend for your viewing pleasure ....lots to see.....actually, putting this together tonight makes me miss Wisconsin more than ever :( .....On the plus side, I'm sure I won't miss it so much in January when they are shoveling snow and I'm enjoying hiking around Lake Travis (glass half full, glass half full ;) ....And now, for the highlights:

Connie and Frank (the pizza professionals!) with Mom and Dad ....this couple makes THE BEST pizzas ......they come to you, make the pizzas on-the-spot (custom order) AND do all the cleaning up ......what a deal :)

Dad ("the boat") and the grandkids "water-skiing" (Jonas, Roman, Lucia, and Benjamin) ...I love this picture!

My triplet bro, David, in his eternal five-year-old state ...oh, stinker boy --some things never change!!! haha......

Jonas and Art playing ring toss :)

Justin, Andria, and Collin ....in a cougar moment??!!

a blog-worthy image of Lisa and Marsh!!

The Byster!!!! (I captured a perfect Byster moment, I do believe.....)

Myself and Andria, the godmothers-to-be, at the baptism....

..the necessities for my and Andria's stilthouse sleepover (photo taken from inside the stilthouse in Mom and Dad's backyard).....yes, that is indeed liverwurst in the plastic bag.......nothing like a glass of Pinot and a slice of 'wurst.....you'll have to check out the slideshow for the rest of the classic pics from this particular evening!

my sweetie and me awaiting a fabulous homemade blueberry pancake breakfast (Mom and Dad, you're the best!!)

C'mon dad, where are the pancakes??....having some good laughs before sending Andria and Ash off and back to Colorado :)

......so these are just the highlights. I'll try and get the slideshow up so you can truly "experience" our trip.....but for now, peace ....I'm out!! (seriously)

July, the Crazy Month

...I can't believe it's July 31st today and I haven't made one single blog post for the entire month yet. ....Well, I guess I'll blame Marsh because that's what spouses do to one another ;) ....we have done quite a bit of traveling and family get-togethering (not a word, but sounds good), so that hasn't made hiding away and updating the blog all that simple. Plus, Marsh had the camera and was responsible for downloading the plethora of pictures we took (oh yeah, it's a lot!!!). But I'm going to make a stab at it tonight and hope to have some new slide shows up in the right hand corner as they really do need to be updated anyway. We were in Wisconsin, Chicago, St. Petersburg (yep, Florida ....the other hot end of the country this time of year), and I spent a few nights in Colorado to attend The Police concert at Red Rocks, unfortunately without Marsh but with Andria and friends .....it was phenomenal!! ...Anyway, Matt still needs to send me some pictures, but I'll try and download the ones I took from my picture phone. ....Hang in there for some fun new stuff :)

Chance becoming citified

I never thought Chance could get used to an elevator, but he has been a surprisingly distinguished urban gentleman!! Even his first trip in it was filled with more curiosity than apprehension, as his ears perked up every time the elevator "dinged", signaling the passing of another floor (fortunately, there aren't that many floors as my vertigo would kick in....). He figured the elevator situation out rather quickly and now knows exactly what to do ....what a smart boy, if my biased self must say so ;)

Lil' Lila

While Ed's band, the Band of Heathens, was playing in Houston this past weekend, Kacia and I took the opportunity to have a gals only dinner together. Before we went out to eat, of course Lila needed to get her belly full ....with peas, that is. I just had to post this one. Lila is my newest little buddy and she makes me smile :) ....We are going to spend some time together this week and I'm really looking forward to it!!

More friends we miss....

Judy and Wells ....a lovely, fit couple!!

Once upon a time, there were two beautiful, intelligent, witty, and very fun single gals (of course I'm referring to myself and Judy) who found a crazy, bachelor guy named Ron to live with (as a matter of fact, yes, it was like "Three's Company"). They all partied too much, laughed a lot, occasionally argued, but most importantly became very close and like family to each other. Until one day, a single handsome suitor came along who just so happened to be good friends with Ron and swept Judy off her feet and to Idaho (that's
Wells I'm talking about by the way, pictured above) ....and then to Oregon (all good prosecutors must heed the call!)....Then Ron met Lara and moved away to Florida and I was left all alone in Colorado .....but wait!! My sweetie Marsh finally came along and I, too, was eventually pulled away to another state and the three of us are officially spread out across the country .....and once again, that's why we are thankful for air travel!! Well, anyway, here Judy and Wells are 10 years and 4 kids later!! We are hoping to make a trip to Bend, Oregon in the fall where Judy, Wells, and clan reside, but we have a ton of trips this summer and may have to postpone our visit ....But I wanted to share some pictures of their 4 beautiful children (no, really, they are all beautiful and I'm not even just saying that out of some sort of obligation). Taylor is their first born and a spitting image of Judy. Then comes Jacob who, in my opinion, looks just like Judy's father who I had the privilege to meet before his passing. And finally, there's the twins (quite the surprise there!!), Ava and Noah. I think Ava looks like Wells and Noah looks like Judy's brother Sy. ...Who really cares, though....they are ALL adorable ....see for yourself:

Ava and Taylor .... on a "girls only" outing with Judy!

Jacob, the human marshmallow ;)

the Lone Ranger, Noah!

...the entire clan, learning team work (now THIS is the wonderful thing about a big family, right Judy??!! ....you guys have your hands full!! ;)

...We love and miss all of you!!! We can't wait to make it to Bend soon (hopefully before you make it down here to Austin, right???!!!)

Evening at The Oasis on Lake Travis

our view from an upper deck at The Oasis

Last Sunday evening, we had dinner at the Oasis ( http://www.oasis-austin.com/ ) on Lake Travis. It is a happening place to drink margaritas, eat dinner, and watch the sunset here in Austin and can get crowded, but if you show up at a decent time, it's not so hard to get a table. Anyway, I was missing "nature views" now that we are city dwellers and insisted we head out to the lake for dinner. The building has an old world Spanish feel with multiple stories and interesting, ethnic decor. I really liked this chandelier in the entry way near the host stand:

...and here's a taste of the architecture (exterior):

....The food here is pretty good, but it is definitely the view and the ambiance that attracts people here for sure. Marsh and I had Collin take a photo of us out front in front of the fountain and sculpture of swimming turtles.

....But I think my favorite artistic piece here had to be, by far, the three monkeys in the well-known "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil..." pose.

My mom had a much smaller tabletop version of this in marble growing up with this same depiction and used to say that each of us triplets represented one of these monkeys. I think I was the "see no evil", Andria was "speak no evil", and David was "hear no evil", but I don't remember......and I think the monkeys were switched around in her version. We ALL probably should have been "speak no evil" since none of us knows when to shut up ;) .... Nevertheless, these guys were nostalgic for me and I had to get a picture on the way out. It was a gorgeous, hot Austin evening and I was happy for the change of scenery....

Band of Heathens at Whitewater Amphitheater

...our friend Ed on the right here :) .....

Last Saturday night, we drove down to Whitewater Amphitheater in a little town called New Braunfels (about 45 minutes south of Austin) to hear Ed's band play (Kacia's husband). They are the Band of Heathens and they are incredibly talented. We were fortunate enough to hear them play in Colorado before, but they are quite well known down here in Austin and more than making a name for themselves as they were awarded Best New Band in 2007 at the South by Southwest Conference. As Collin's down visiting for a couple weeks, he tagged along. We are attempting to instill a taste for true, authentic, good music within him ....

...still a work in progress, as you can see ;) ....The amphitheater is along the Guadalupe River and it's very pretty hill country. It is a popular area, especially in the spring and summer, for rafting, kayaking, fishing, and the gamut of outdoor activities one might expect along a river. Here's a good link for rafting type activities: http://www.rioraft.com/ ...a scenic area indeed.

...Minus a few gnats and such buzzing around here and there, Marsh and I enjoyed ourselves as well. A little bug spray and a Shiner Bock turned things around pretty quickly! ...Anyway, I'll leave you with a video so you can sample the talented sound of the Band of Heathens. Also, check out their website at http://www.bandofheathens.com/ ...GREAT stuff!

Urban Bats

... just a pretty picture I took off of Congress Ave. downtown before our "bat" viewing....

Austin has the country's (as well as the world's apparently) largest urban bat population living under the Congress Avenue bridge downtown .....and every summer night at sunset, the bats come out and I have to say, it is pretty spectacular to watch!! With a population of over 1.5 million in the colony, you can imagine the awesome scene this nightly activity creates --and the crowd it draws :) ... Last weekend on Friday night, Marsh, Collin, and I decided to go check it out for ourselves.

Marsh and Collin heading underneath the bridge....

...the crowd already well-formed above and below the bridge...

It began to drizzle on and off shortly after these pictures were taken and as the sun continued to set, it was difficult to get a good picture. Most of my pictures of the bats were way too dark and covered with drops of rain from the camera lens. So what I've done is to get a much better image off the web to help better depict what it was like experiencing this unique event.

...this endless stream of bats flying out from under the bridge, into the air, out over the lake, and across the city lasts for about an hour. It is really, really cool!! If you would care to learn more about this unique occurrence, check out this website for a beautiful sunset picture and more information: http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=122 ....If you come at the right time of the year, I promise I'll take you downtown when you come visit to see this for yourselves :)

Road Trip to our new Austin home!

Goodbye, Colorado!! (photos taken somewhere outside of Colorado Springs)

...that's me to the right following my honey...occasional tears flowing down my face ....goodbye, mountains :( ......I will miss you so, but promise to visit OFTEN!!

...The movers came, packed and loaded everything up two days before we left on Saturday (June 7th), so we had ourselves, Chance, and a few miscellaneous items with us on the trip down to Austin. We made it in two days (spent our first night in Amarillo .....sorry, no pictures from this locale as it was, quite frankly, dull and boring.....). But this picture signaled our official arrival like no other (it simply speaks for itself):

....I'm not even going to touch the slogan underneath the sign. ....It's just too damn embarrassing..... We also made a brief stop in the small town of Memphis, Texas. Although a real town that supposedly lives and "thrives" (term used loosely), it resembled a ghost town on many levels. Business hours are atypical, to say the least.

.....see our two cars in the background?? ....This was the "town square" ...on a Sunday .....yeah, pretty scary........where the heck is everybody??? ......oh, wait, .....I hear the "hallelujah" music. ...Never mind, mystery solved ;) ......What I can tell you is that is was ungodly hot this particular day in Memphis, Texas.

...Marsh considering joining the ranks of the retired.........

Marsh captured this next image in a storefront window before pulling out of Memphis, Texas and it pretty much epitomizes quite a few small, conservative Texas towns outside of Austin. I didn't even know he took this one until I downloaded the photos from the digital camera:

Spot-on, folks ...when representing your professional line of work in Texas, always don the cowboy hat so people know you're the real deal ......hilarious.....

...Upon entering Austin city proper, we felt a different vibe wash over us. Marsh thought it might be worth looking into getting our emissions tests on our vehicles taken care of right away and here's where we pulled up:

....ahh, Austin.....home sweet liberal home ;)