I always tell Walt how much I think Nash looks like his brother Bob. Here's proof. A few weeks ago Bob and Karrie came to see us for a much needed getaway. They've been such busy bees and were pumped to just kick back, relax and love on Nash and Zola. They have their own hairy angel (Zola's cousin Conan) back in California but he didn't make the trek. We surely did miss him.
But we had such a great time showing Uncle Bob and Aunt Karrie all of our favorite sights, sounds and eateries in Austin. They're quite the foodies so they actually arrived with a checklist. Thankfully we didn't hit them all, so guess what they'll have to do? Come back again, soon. Read on for some of our fave snippets from their stay.
PS - Thanks Uncle Jim and Aunt Richelle for the Dodgers tee (above) for Nash. It's a perfect fit!
Homeslice was on the menu for the first night's grub. I'm pretty sure we went with garlic knots and a large sausage and pepperoni pie. Good grief, it was delish. And I even treated myself and had a slice since I've started reintroducing (via nursing) dairy, soy, citrus and eggs for Nash. I don't think I've had a piece of Homeslice pizza for almost a year. It was worth the wait and just as good as I had remembered. Bob and Karrie surely agreed.
Next up, we showed them the sights of South Congress. One of our favorite roads in all of Austin. They opted for some scoops at Amy's Ice Cream, which is a huge Austin fave and totally delish. Bob scored a few great leather belts at Allen's boots (note to self, grab one for Walt for his upcoming birthday) and Walt and Nash got all sorts of attention with that little leprechaun hoisted on his shoulder.
When we have company I love having a huge fruit salad in the fridge to pick on for breakfast(s) and snacks. The fruit right now is absolutely bonkers so I just couldn't even handle how scrumptious the salad was. I think Karrie and I ate nearly 75% of this. The boys nibbled but Karrie and I are surely fruit lovers.
I also made Momma's Monkey Bread and we got some sparkling cider to cheers to their visit.
Mmm, Rudy's. Now don't go rolling your eyes. Rudy's rocks, y'all! I had never actually eaten at a Rudy's in Austin so it was quite the fun experience. To say the least, we all pretty much waddled out of Rudy's and Bob even grabbed some sauce to take back to Cali with him.
One of my favorite images from their visit. I love, love, love this! It was BEYOND hot. Like, scorching. Nash was such a trooper because he's such a sweaty headed lil' thang. We were waiting on our goods outside of Gourdough's and this image is just so splendid to me.
Oh and if you've never heard of Gourdough's...just check out their site HERE and read that menu. Yeah, pretty much the most amazing donut experience you'll ever have. Obviously we weren't able to annihilate all six of these donuts, but we did have the leftovers to snack on for days.
Next stop, a day in San Antonio. We love to share this sister city with our company. Checking out the Alamo and River Walk are both easy, accessible and super Texan to us.
Alamo'n it up.
Pretty. Much. Awesome. Bob and Karrie called over the Mariachi band and had them serenade Nash and he was just shy of hilarious. He didn't smile but he was very intrigued and thoroughly confused. I love all the expressions captured and Nash's little fat hand on his head. Zola is obviously wondering when we're going to get back to the ac, ha!
I love me some San Antone.
Anyone in the world who loves on our sweet Zola will always have such an amazing place in my heart. Nash obviously gets so much attention in our family, these days, but you walk around any where with Zola...and Nash is pretty much invisible. I'm not kidding you. Zola was made to be in the spotlight, ha! And Uncle Bob and Aunt Karrie have always been beyond sweet to our lil' lady.
One of my favorite moments...Nash was so in need of a nap but our bill from lunch hadn't arrived so Walt just Ergo'd him up and bam, he was out cold! Love those little chunky monkey legs and his sweet arm just holding onto his Daddy. This might just find it's way onto a wall in our home.
That San Antone sun wasn't messing around. Little buddy passed out on the car ride home again.
No trip to Austin is every complete without gettin' your grub on at Magnolia Cafe. This 24/7 Austin icon was on their list and I forgot how much I love some scrumptious breakfast fare from there.
I happened to just mention my love of Rita's and Bob/Karrie looked at me like, 'Huh?' I about died. How are we related and you don't know what Rita's is? Oh good lawd have mercy, here we go. So we headed off to Rita's to provide the scrumptious introduction. Literally, I lived on this stuff in high school in Vero. Their verdict? Two thumbs up.
Nash's verdict? BORING!
We also hit up The Oasis for some apps and drinks. Nash met BB and was smitten, like most are. The Oasis rocks for lake views and drinks. That's all.
And for our last gastronomical tour of Austin with B&K, we hit up Franklin BBQ. It's been on our radar for some time but we just hadn't gotten there yet. After hearing about the 2 hour line and the possibility of waiting and then being told their goods were sold out...well let's just say, there's nothing about that that sounded overly appealing to me. But Walt assured us he'd head over there around 10:45am and get in line and see what he could get. We arrived around 12:45 and he JUST GOT FOOD. They were already out of ribs and turkey, but we got to try the brisket and chopped beef.
People, I literally do not have words for this bbq and I'm not even a huge bbq fan. But if you are, you might want to join the ranks of people flying in from all over the USA just to wait and try Aaron Franklin's grub. Don't believe me? Read THIS or THIS or especially THIS. When Aaron asked me how I liked the food I told him it absolutely lived up to the hype. Then I was transfixed on the fact that this lanky and tall hipster type is now known as a bbq god. Well, I might not trust a skinny chef...but I assure you I trust a skinny grill master. Franklin knows his meat.
Post bbq noshin' is always a good time for some beard pulling. This was one of Nash's best games to play with his Uncle Bob. What a great time we had with our family in town. Can't wait till they come back again. And we promise to cook at home for them more and only eat a few meals out. But Austin is a foodie town and when you have foodies visiting...you just gotta go get yourself some.
