On Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in January we drove about 3 hours south of our home to visit Ted's cousin Jen (her mom and his mom are sisters). Jen and her hubby have 5 warm, fun children who we were looking forward to introducing Maddie and Nick to; I just knew they would hit it off; I have read Jen's blog long enough to know she is a kindred spirit and that our two families would really enjoy spending time together. And we did!
From the night we got there (and stayed up til almost midnight having great deep chat with Jen and Ben about life and all it's unexpected facets), the kids hit it off.
The big kids ranged from 2nd grade to 3rd to 5th and 6th. Great match up!
Check out these Cozy Cousins
Twins on left: Tyler (up) and Ryan, then Nick and Maddie, and big brother, Evan.
What a bunch of NINOS FABULOSOS!
Ryan and Nick really hit it off by making each other laugh. Nick and Maddie had the biggest blast with these 1st cousins, whom they had never met til we got to their house. We hardly saw them the whole trip; they got in sleeping bags and slid down the big staircase; they jumped on ginormous pillows in the game room, they went to the park, they played some sports, played cards & games and had a perfect blast!
Ben and Jen (Ted's cousin and her husband) moved to Austinlast fall. We are so excited to have family nearby!!
This is us in front of Ben's film company, Fueld Films. They have done some awesome commercials--really groovy ones. You can check them out on:
One cool thing to note: his office building used to be barracks during WW I
We walked around the retro part of old Austin (near his office) and saw the most unique shops of hip clothes, diners, old 50s paraphenalia, and tart-candy-lipsticks, which made me smile and think of the 70s when we bought them as "penny candy" (sometimes they were more like five cents) and they came in bright red plastic tubes; the sweet-tart type 'lipstick' inside was tart and came in different colors; we used to put it on like we had real lipstick; we felt so cool!
Here you get to see the littlest Hursts: Sam and DaidyThese two were crawling on Ted and asking for tickles. It was so cute!
They took us to this gorgeous place: Lake Travis
Us at Lake Travis in Austin on the deck of the multi-decked OASIS restaurant; it has fabulous ambiance, great latin music (oh yea!) and pure lake vistas from all decks/windows.
We played card games, SNORTA (which is crazy fun), had a movie night with homemade berry-lime slushees, banana cream pie, popcorn...THIS IS A SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENT:
If there was an academy award for the cook who makes the most bright, tasty, gourmet, delicious, house-smelling-incredible, most beautiful presentation it would go to JEN HURST!!
Ted's cousin, Jen (the mom of the crew) is the one of (if not the) best cooks ever!
I felt like I was staying at the Hyatt or eating at Little America's weekend buffet--the food was not only divine, it was healthy, rich, flavorful, gourmet--
Jen, we loved it! We love the whole Hurst household!
Her food blog (which you won't want to miss; includes recipes & photos to die for, advice, lots of bread-making advice from a young pro, and savory cuisine) is:
I definitely want to buy your latest cookbook, Jen, when it's ready!
In fact, listen, most of what she made for us in on that blog: the homemade guacamole, the cranberry roast, twice-baked potatoes, tortilla soup, breadsticks, grilled turkey/cheese/red pepper sandwiches (with only the best mustard, Grey Poupon), and if you read earlier posts, you will see her amazing smoothie blender and the smoothies she makes. We make the same kind, we both add flax seed, maybe some wheat bran/germ, but she adds spinach leaves and you DO NOT taste them in the least! I love other epicureans! (see my side bar definition if needed) :)
Cousins' pyramid:TOP Maddie and Nick
BOTTOM Evan, Ryan, Tyler, Daidy, Sam
VERY BOTTOM: dog, Maggie
Time for blast off! See you soon!This is one of many works of art outside the OASIS restaurant in Austin.
Thank you to Jen and Ben and all our darling cousins for the fun, the delectable cuisine, the games and laughing, the talks and sharing. We are so glad you are in Texas with us now!
We hope to see them again soon and to have some fun summer hang-out time at the many lakes and rivers down in Austin. We loved it so much, that, if in Ted's job search something came up down there, we would go. It has beautiful hills, valley, trees, and water. Plus two of my siblings have Austin high on their list of places to settle. So who knows?
4 comments:
It was so funny when I saw your pics on Jenn's blog. I started following her blog after I linked to her through Randy Curtis' blog and I loved all of her testimony and uplifting posts. Then I find out she is not only related to Randy but also to Ted! Too funny!
It's a wonderful thing when kids hit it off like that! It looks like you had so much fun, you always do!
You are so cute! I just love you. We had a great time too! Thanks for the endorsement, you are way generous! Hope to see you again soon!
smooches!
What a fun trip and what a cool family. Great photos too- we enjoyed seeing everyone!
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