My Visit to Austin

I spent almost 2 weeks visiting with Jennifer and her family. I arrived on Tuesday, July 26th. Jen met me at the airport with the girls and a child she was babysitting. We pretty much just hung around the house the rest of the week. She has 3 kids that she babysits.


Keith arrived on Saturday morning. Jen & the girls and I went to pick him up. We decided to go get something to eat and Jen took us to the Salt Lick Barbecue Restaurant for lunch. It was very good! I had the sampler platter with ribs, beef brisket and smoked sausage. Delicious! After that, we went to downtown Austin to the Texas State History Museum to see The Story of Texas. It was an interactive show that made it feel like locusts were in my hair, and also we could feel the wind, rain and thunder during a storm. It was very cool!
This is Jen, Keith & the girls outside the museum.

Waiting in the lobby for the show to start

Skylar lounging around.

This is the floor in the lobby. It is a very cool terrazo floor with images depicting the history to Texas. Sydnee & Skylar are standing there in the center of the upper edge of the picture.

For dinner Saturday night, we went to a place called Z Tejas. It was excellent!! I had Porcupine Shrimp. It was stuffed with crab, then coated with thin strips of tortillas and deep fried. Oh my! It was the best ever! I wish I had taken a picture of it.



On Sunday, we went to Lake Travis and took a water taxi across the lake to Shades Cafe.
It was another good restaurant. I had a huge Chicken salad. It had a margarita dressing on it. The restaurant was floating. It was a little hard to get used to the constant moving.



For dinner on Sunday we went to El Arroyo for some TexMex. It was very good. I tried their tamales, which I don't usually like, but I loved it!

Monday, August 1st was Keith's birthday. Brian had to go to Houston for the night and Jen and the girls had the ribbon cutting for the new school, so we just hung around the house for awhile. After they got home, we went to Hill Country Pasta House for dinner. Again, everything was delicious and Keith said that it was his favorite place we ate all weekend. We took him to the airport Tuesday morning.

We had a good time just hanging around the house, playing games on the computer and cooking dinner.

Sydnee & Skylar watching TV.

Me, Syndee, Skylar & Jen just before we left to take me to the airport. I had a wonderful time with them and can't wait to get the chance to visit again. I wish I could have stayed longer.

Rita Kay had a cookout at her house on Sunday, July 3rd. It was the first time in a few years that we have all gotten together at once. We had a great time. The only ones missing were Leo's daughter Leah and My son Chris, his wife Michelle and their daughters Shelby & Payton. 

Here we all are. Marcia, Cathy, Terry, Rita, David & Leo III. 

My sister Cathy & her family. Husband Mario, daughter Angela, son-in-law Malcolm & grandson Malcolm Jr. 

Cathy & Mario's Daughter Angela with her husband Malcolm & their son Malcolm. He is such a cutie! 

My brothers! Leo, David & Terry. 

My sister Rita Kay's family. Her husband Jim and their children Ryan & Shannon. 

My brother David & his son Sebastian (Bubba)! 

My youngest brother Leo's family. Debbie is his wife. Kelly Is his stepdaughter, married to Greg and Lita is her daughter. Reuben is daughter Leah's (missing from pic) baby. Bubba is my brother David's son. The rest of the kids are Leo & Debbies children. BugBug's name is actually Katherine Marcia Kay! 

This is from our mini vacation to St Louis. I won tickets from 93.9 The Song radio station for a one night stay at the Clayton on the Park Hotel. The package included a 1-night stay in a 2-bedroom suite, $75.00 towards dinner and 4 tickets to the Magic House, the children's museum. We arrived Saturday evening and went to the City Museum after dinner. On Sunday we went to Grant's Farm and then to the Arch before going to dinner at McGurdy's Irish pub. On Monday, we went to the Magic House, then went to the zoo. We went to the Outback for dinner. We came home Tuesday morning. We had a wonderful time together.

Breakfast stop at McDonalds. 

It was a long ride. 

Snoozing on the ride. 

Chris relaxing at the hotel. 

Payton in their bedroom at the hotel. 

On Saturday evening, we went to the City Museum. It is an old shoe factory that has been transformed into an interactive museum, using recycled stuff. We had a great time there.  

Keith at the entrance to the City Museum. 

Part of MonstrousCity at the City Museum. 

Chris checking out the gate.