Home from Austin

That actually sounds kind of odd - Home From Austin. We are back in St Louis and very happy to be back because it was a beautiful fall day when we landed. The trees are in full swing and it was 65 degrees. Very nice.

Jeff and I had a great time in Austin. We were so excited to go that neither one of us could sleep the night before. It felt like Christmas was the next day and we were 10 years old. It was fantastic to be able to see all of our friends. We really were quite touched that so many people made time for us and often not once - but clearing two or even three days for us! Wow, we really have a lot of our heart in Texas.

As soon as Jeff and I landed we began our Mexican food binge. It started with Freebirds burritos for lunch. Then we headed to Magen and Mark's house, where they hosted us. They cleared their calendars and even got the Grandparents to babysit so that we received their undivided attention. (I still feel very honored by that.) We drove around Thursday checking out our home that we built in Lake Forest, all of the new expressways and some of the new shopping (The Domain is spectacular). Then we drove downtown to dinner at Iron Cactus on 6th and a Mexican Martini. Yummy.

The next day we did more site seeing and ate lunch at Rudy's - there is just sometimes when only gas station barbeque will hit the spot. Then we headed to Christi and Greg's house. Christi and Greg hosted us for the next two nights in their newly completed home. They had tripled the size of their little 1930s bungalo and gutted the entire house. This was just completed in August and looks amazing. Friday night we headed to Hula Hut for happy hour and some more Mexican food! We were able to meet Amy, Ina, Nick and Amanda as well as Magen and Mark and Christi.

Saturday we got up early to be at the tailgate by 9:30. The tailgate (Christi, Greg, Curly haired Craig, Mark and Karen, and the boys) has been somewhat elevated in the past two years. I mean, plasma TVs, RVs, satellite and generators. And we thought we were so sophisticated with our Longhorn tent! It was great and we were able to see even more friends at the tailgate. Catricia and her sister, Cami and Niall, Tim and Charlie, Kent and Dawn, Kerrie and Brien all made it to the tailgate. It was a great football weekend with Texas and Missouri winning and Ohio State and A&M losing! Doesn't get much better.

We headed to The Draughthouse Pub after the game and met more friends. Most of the tailgaters made it and we were joined by Ina and Michelle, Tim and Lori and Kara and Jim. The funniest point in the entire weekend was after almost everyone had left and Jeff and I were talking with Kara and Jim at The Draughthouse when Kerrie called from Christi's house (also staying with Christi and Greg). Jeff answered my phone and Kerrie started asking him strange questions. Are you guys coming home soon? When you come home, could you open our bedroom door? ....... Come to find out that Kerrie was trapped in the bedroom (faulty doorknob not faulty Kerrie) and couldn't get out. Brien was asleep and she needed to use the restroom. She hadn't called Christi because she didn't want to wake them. The story ends well though, Christi actually heard Kerri rattling the door and came downstairs to check it out. Kerri was able to 'whisper' for help and Christi opened the door.

We wrapped up the festivities with a breakfast at Austin Java where we had Greg, Christi, Cami and her daughter Emily, Kara, Jim and their daughter Avery and Chris and Diane meet us. It was a great send off.