Rodeo time

Also known as State Fair Light. 

I was really looking forward to taking everyone out to the Rodeo for the BBQ competition.  Even with the unseasonably cold weather and gale force winds, we loaded up and rolled out to the Travis County Expo Center.  It was colder and windier once we got there and Erinn let me know about it.

We hopped from tent to tent.  The first stop fortunately for Simon was the Kids Tent with the petting zoo.

After a heavy lathering of hand sanitizer, we headed across the parking lot over to the BBQ setup where we saw some sweet rigs, like this one:

Plenty of hospitality, but in the end it was too windy to continue.  So we headed to the see the world's smallest cowboy, Whiplash.

Simon and Erinn waiting for Whiplash.

Whiplash is a monkey that rides a dog.  And when I say ride, I use that term loosely.  He's strapped onto the dog.  Whiplash corrals some sheep and gets all the credit.  But honestly, the dog's doing all the work.

I couldn't get a good shot of Whiplash, so here's one the Dallas Morning News took.

Independence Day Parade

We found ourselves downtown last Saturday at the Farmer's Market, but took a detour to watch the Independence Day Parade.  The camera ran out of juice before we left, but it was fun, if not hokey.

Simon:  "You promised me freshly squozen orange juice and here we are, sitting on Congress Ave, waiting for a parade that won't start for another 20 minutes.  This isn't even my regular stroller.  This is the emergency stroller.... I hate this haircut."

Andrew:  "We'll get you some juice and that hair will grow ba- Oh look it's David Thomas!"
Erinn: "Who?"
Andrew:  "You know, he played Tight End.... nevermind, here comes a canon."

Yes, they shot it off.  Several times.

Davy Crockett everyone!

Andrew:  Simon, check out that big Texas flag!
Simon:  Yay runners!
Andrew:  That was a couple weeks ago.  We've moved on.

Happy Texas Independence Day

Celebrated Texas Independence Day early this weekend by visiting two of Texas' treasures, Real Ale Brewery in Blanco and Louie Mueller's in Taylor.

Skipped out of work early on Friday to celebrate our friend Mark's 30th birthday (well 30, plus some change).  His wife Lindsey organized a van down to the Real Ale Brewery an hour south in Blanco.  Perfect weather for it.

 

 

Turns out one of the founding fathers of Real Ale (the guy with the beard on the left) played lacrosse at UT about ten years before me and Mark.

 

Beer fridge, defined.

I will!  And after I've drunk Texas beer, I'll use that toilet under the truck.

On Saturday, Simon, Dad and I took a trip up to Taylor for an early lunch at Louie Mueller's.

Those business cards started out white, or a subtle off white.  Some of them might have even had a watermark before the smoke hit them.

Celebrated with the holy trinity of brisket, sausage and pork ribs and washed it all down with the decidedly Texan Big Red.  

Almost fell asleep on the car ride home from a meat coma.  I waited until we got home to have a nap.

Good weekend.

Snow Day in Austin

For those outside of Austin we got a lot of snow earlier this week. Today we'll be back up in the 60s though.

Simon had fun while it lasted.

 

 

It's going to be another ten years before we see snow like that in Austin

W is the least important letter in the alphabet

If it was important, Simon would've remembered it.



Simon's been working on his ABC's. Apparently we have a letter that sounds like "el omompee." As you can see in the video, he isn't quite to the lip reading level. I tried to mouth "W" to him and he made a fish mouth. Personally, I like the "yay" at the end.

Valentine's Weekend

Busy, busy weekend punctuated with two thirds of the house coming down with something.

Maybe we're all sick because we spent Sunday morning outside watching the Austin Marathon go by on Bull Creek.

Simon really enjoyed it.

He loved cheering on the runners as they went by.

"Yay Runners!".

The deliciousness hits Northwest Hills

I'm so glad I don't have to drive down to campus now to get my Torchy's Tacos queso fix.  Turning left across traffic into that parking nightmare is gone.  Now Torchy's has a new parking nightmare where the old Burger House used to be at Spicewood and Mesa.  There's only about 6 spots there, but fortunately, when we eat out now it's always with all the old people and people with kids.

 

Always get the queso.  Always.  Even if you're eating alone.   You get that.

 

While the pictures of the tacos don't scream "eat me,"  maybe the description will.  This here's the Trailer Park: 

"Fried chicken, green chilies, lettuce, pico de gallo, and Cheese served on a flour tortilla with poblano ranch.
Get it Trashy! Take off the lettuce and add queso!"

Or my personal favorite, the "Double Wide":

"Chicken Fried Steak & Bacon, Green Chili Queso, Pico, Queso Fresco on a flour tortilla"... Yeah, buddy.  Too bad that was just for the month of January.  This month's taco is called "The Situation."  I don't watch Jersey Shore so I didn't order it.

 

Simon, you can have applesauce.  Sorry.

New 'cue in town

Had read good things about Franklin BBQ on the interwebs and knew it needed to be vetted out.

It's basically another trailer, but with picnic tables.  The pit has its own house, as you can see here, which allows for some basic cover when it gets windy.

Pit's off to the right.  Pop is chewing the fat with the owner, literally and figuratively as the owner hands out burnt ends to sample a la Louie Mueller's.

Standard set up.  Ribs, brisket, potato salad, pickles n onions.  It was all really good.  Actually I'd put it at the top of what's available in Austin.  But that's more an indication of a lack of excellent barbecue within the city limits.

 Simon digging into the brisket.

I'm including this shot mainly to show Erinn that we still use the bib and placemat when Simon and I go out together.

Franklin BBQ is on I-35 at Concordia St (~32nd Street) and open Wed-Sun from 11am until they run out of food, which is about 2pm.

Uhh, part 2?

Can part two of an event come a week after part one, and three weeks after the original event?

Now I can't even remember what I did when I was in LA...

Getting together with old friends.  But why do I look like I ate a whole pumpkin? You people need to tell me when I'm gaining weight.  I'd rather not find out from vacation pictures.

 Getting set up.

 

Fellow Big 12 supporter Ken at the tailgate.

Me and Bean.

Up close and personal with Bevo

The tailgate eventually swelled to over 50 fans who in a few short hours would be heartbroken, but full.

Me and Wells.

Pregame.

"The Eyes"

As close to legendary as possible.

24 hours later, I was fully cheered up by the chicken and rice guys in NY.

 The line was 30 minutes.  The temperature was below 20.

Worth it.