Sibling and cousin outing

Sickness hung over our holiday celebration. Before we arrived, my sister was sick. Her husband was still sick once we all arrived missing several days of work. My one brother became sick and by the end of the week, both our parents were sick. Thankfully Connor and I didn't get sick and bring it home with us (that wouldn't have been a welcome Christmas gift for Ammon). So, while mom and dad rested, we went out on the town. The residents showed us around.

Austin's motto is "keep Austin weird." There's evidence of that philosophy everywhere. Here's one little example: a cool old trailer turned retro cupcake shop. They sell gourmet cupcakes. Pretty snazzy. We didn't get one. We opted for a local favorite- Amy's ice cream. Way yummy.
We checked out one of the many vintage shops. Connor found these cool old Santa candlesticks and started beating an old drum. Yeah, the shop lady was none too pleased. I snapped a picture though really quickly because I just felt like being bad.
We found a little courtyard to relax in at Austin's oldest downtown motel. It's a part of history and nicely preserved.
Where's Melanie? didn't she go on this outing? Oh yeah, she's taking the pictures. I guess that's why I'm not in any of the cool "sibling" shots. And darn it if we never did get together for family pictures of all of us together! Next time that'll be the first thing we do! I don't care if you have the runs or not! Well, maybe a little...

Leaving the lovely courtyard. Love the ivy covered walls.

A precious moment with Connor and Livvy.

Don't my brothers look like a boy band? Uh, Eric there is the drummer- he's even wearing a band shirt, Brian is the crooner, oh the heartthrob and Jason stirs up the ladies play'n 'dem strings.Later we leisurely walked along a well-traveled trail around the city lake. It was a gorgeous day and people were out in force. Some were canoeing on the river and lake, others biking, many on the train ride through the park while others played ultimate frisbee. We went down to a beautiful outlook that allowed us to see all of downtown Austin and the lake. We stayed until dusk.Here's Connor getting a closer look at the many turtles swimming in the water.
Adorable Livvy having fun stomping around on the leaves. Yeah, she's a little heart breaker.

We had a delightful walk back out seeing some sights "only to be seen in Austin." We first saw a very old man walking around with no shirt on. He was pastey white and extremely wrinkled. Once he passed, my one brother commented that some people should never go shirtless. That was just a foretaste of what was to come. As we walked along still looking at the ducks, swans and abundant turtles, we saw him. My sister and I had lagged behind our brothers and were honored to be the first to see the naked man biking past us. No, he wasn't completely nude, he was wearing a bright red g-string. That was considerate. Actually, all we saw was his exposed backside, thankfully. Because my one brother had made that comment about the other man, I had to make sure he saw the man. I called up ahead to this brother to make him turn around. All three brothers turned and got an eyeful. Later this brother expressed to me how much he appreciated me loudly calling out his name drawing attention to himself as if to say 'you want this obviously gay man.' Well Jason, I wasn't sure, just didn't know.

When we got home, we hoped to find mom and dad well enough to head out to Norabong with us. Norabong is korean karaoke. That was something fun we did while in Korea. I still remember my reserved brother-in-law Jeong giving into peer pressure and singing a song to his sweetheart "that's sugarcane, that tasted good, that's who you are that's what you should come on come on no one can see you cryyyyy..." (name that song). It would have been a fun tradition to continue. That darn flu bug ruined it all though. Next time, next time...