Tuesday, March 31, 2009

She likes to sing.

This was Coliseum Week in the Dub household! Our first venture to our school district's big venue was for the elementary choir festival.
Katie's school choir performed "I Like to Sing."
This was a flashback for us because Ryan sang this with the FVE choir back when he was in fifth grade.
All the choirs joined forces for the grand finale. It's neat to hear so many young voices united like that!
After the show we honored our tradition of heading to Baskin-Robbins to celebrate another great performance.
It was dollar scoop night, so we opted for the less-crowded confines of the sidewalk outside.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Bowled over.

Cold and windy Saturday + family itching to get out of the house + coupon that expires soon = perfect day for bowling!




Katie redeemed some arcade tickets she'd been collecting.

And Ryan bought himself a chicken strip meal!
(Yep, that's the look!)

(I liked the bowling themed bag.)

Brett checks the score.

It was a fun morning at the ol' alley!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Blue Friday.

Brett and I have long considered Blue Mesa one of our favorite local restaurants, and we head there often when we get a date night. But this week, as we considered our Friday Fun Night destination, we decided it was time to introduce Ryan and Katie to this New Mexican cuisine.

Katie's first taste of sweet potato chips

Her meal

Brett's

Mine (Churrascarita Sampler... Mmmm!)

And then there's Ryan's meal:

Complete with his trademarked "check it, I'm eating chicken strips again" look!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Austin's greatest hits: Breakfast and a breakdown.

On the last day of our trip, we stopped by yet another Half Price store and then had breakfast at one of our faves:
Kerbey Lane Cafe!

We seem to find our way to Kerbey on most of our Austin trips. This time we hit the one on the Drag.
Good eggs, awesome pancakes: YUM.

After that we headed over to my former church home. I'd heard that our old Biblical Studies Center had been torn down, and I just had to see it for myself. As we turned down University Avenue, I expected to see the BSC gone. I didn't expect it to hit me so hard.

For my first two years at UT, I lived at Tower Manor across the street. Many an afternoon I would head to the BSC lounge to hang out and "study."

When we moved farther off campus, I parked in this lot and used the BSC for my home base. I ate lunch there almost every day. We'd bring our lunches, pick up something from Dobie or grab some chicken fried rice from the egg roll stand in front of the Littlefield fountain. We'd watch Australian rules football or cheesy MTV videos, play pool or ping pong, or just sit back and put our feet up on the wagon wheel coffee table. (This parking lot was the setting for the van explosion scene in that cinematic masterpiece, Man of the House, by the way.)

The old walkway panels are gone, too.

The BSC was a second home to me, and just seeing that empty lot made me cry.

I've always been a sentimental sap, but the tears caught me off guard. It'd been years since I'd even been in that building, and I'm fortunate enough to still be in touch (or at least Facebook friends) with many of my dear friends who made the BSC so special to me.


Now that Austin Grad has moved, the campus ministry now occupies the old Institute building. The BSC was showing its age when I was there, so I can imagine the old place was pretty decrepit! This is a definite upgrade for these young whippersnappers. And with the old building gone, UA can undergo some much-needed renovations. (A college friend's firm is even handling the project.)
And the old Tower Manor (as seen in this 1988 tenant portrait), where I lived for my freshman and sophomore years?

It was torn down several years ago. A much nicer facility now occupies that prime real estate just down the street from the Tower.

Obviously, these old building were just that—buildings. Still, there was something comforting about driving past them when I'd visit campus, seeing yet again those places where so many memories were made. I'll miss that.

***********

In spite of my maudlin mood, this made me laugh:

Friday, March 20, 2009

Austin's greatest hits: Great friends, good ice cream and cows.

The highlight of our greatest hits tour was dinner with friends on Friday night. We met at Serrano's and enjoyed good food and great conversation.

Unfortunately, my purse camera was not up to this setting! I was too busy talking to take many photos, and the ones I did get aren't great.
Still, I wanted to post these to mark the occasion. I've known these people for more than 20 years, and it's wonderful to catch up with them now and then.


After dinner some of us wandered across the parking lot to Amy's Ice Cream and to the Arboretum cows. It's yet another tradition of ours for the kids to partake in this awesome ice cream astride those cows.

It was a fun way to top off a fun evening with some dear friends.

Austin's greatest hits: Co-op and Capitol.

Now which one of us picked the University Co-op as a must-see? Hmmm...

As many times as I've been there, you'd think I'd tire of it. But that inventory just keeps changing... so much burnt orange... (insert Homer's drooling sound here)

Speaking of repeat visitors, Ryan and Katie have been to the Texas Capitol countless times in their young lives, but they always request a return trip whenever we're in town.



Davy Crockett portrait

Sam Houston statue


Senate Chamber

Portrait of Barbara Jordan, one of my heroes




House Chamber

Light bulbs spelling "Texas"






Here's another shot that I'd like to see side-by-side with some older photos!

When we returned to the parking garage, I was able to get a glimpse of another of my fave Austin locales:
I'll be there in 169 days!