Sushi Time!

We are having a great time here at the beach!  Last night Bill and I were in charge of dinner and decided to host a Japanese party in keeping with my 30 under 30 theme.

 That's right, I cooked sushi!  And, it was good.  At least I didn't see anyone spitting it out when I wasn't looking.

Brendon was my Sous Chef.  Please ignore the popsicle.  That is not an accurate reflection of what his duties entailed.  

This is much more accurate.  Boy has been to entirely too many Hibachi grills.  He played with knifes practically the entire time he was suppose to be helping.  Hey, I have to win the cool aunt award somehow.

Mattie did not have time to help with preparations.  She was too busy working on her Kung fu panda skills.

 

The process was fairly long, but mainly it is just a lot of prep and waiting on different steps for the rice.  The 

assembly was much easier than I expected.

Proof that I do read directions.  Sometimes. 

In addition to the sushi, we had several Japanese appetizers, including edamame, gyoza, spring rolls, honey toasted seaweed crackers, shrimp flavored crackers, squid jerky and mochi.  For the main course, Bill (with the help of my sister Mandy), made stir fry and to top it off, every one drank Ramune, a Japanese soda complete with a marble.

Evidence that everyone ate and enjoyed.  Well, except for dad who proclaimed, "this crap is nasty."  Now you know from where I get my brutal honesty.

Hi Ali, you made it to the blog, and your are looking good.  When this picture gets picked out on the "internets"  remember me and our agreement for 10% royalty. 

For dessert, I made "dessert sushi" with rice crispy treats, fruit roll ups, and Swedish fish.  I didn't take a picture, but it looked a little something like this.

Stay tuned for more pics of my little beach bum on his first swimming trip ever!  I could just put them on this post but (1) I'm feeling lazy and its past my bedtime, and (2) I need something to ramble about tomorrow.  

Keepin it weird in Austin

I love Austin. In fact, I want to live there.  Then again, I usually say that every time I go on vacation, so maybe I just love vacations.  

Because of whole "yea your dogs can't stay here experience," I didn't get any pictures of Friday night. Not a big deal, you already know about all that excitement. 

Lets start with Saturday.  We woke up early, there was an overcast, the weather was perfect and I just knew this would be perfect race weather.  

Our group decided to hit the running expo first to pick up our race packets and t-shirts.

 

But not before, I demanded that everyone stop at Starbucks, so I could pay an arm and a leg for some good coffee. (Yes, I realize that there is free coffee at the hotel).  

Evan's first stroller ride outside the neighborhood. 

Leave me alone, $5 is not too much for coffee. 

There was no way Savanna and John were spending hard earned money on coffee, so they paused for a photo op instead. 

The race expo was nice.  A little small, but then again, I have never been to or ran a 10K that actually had an expo, so it was a nice touch.  Dad and Savanna actually scored really nice Asics for $50.  I have the most common shoe size in the world, so no super discounted shoes for me.  

After breakfast, expo and walking around downtown, it was time to relax at the hotel. 

Our little travelers did such a great job!

We decided to eat lunch at the Hula Hut on Lake Austin.

The food was really good and inexpensive.  I got Fish Tacos, Bill got the biggest burrito known to man, and we shared a fried banana dessert (I can't remember the name). Evan had milk.  We were happy campers when we left.

After lunch, my mom, Ashley, Evan and I decided to tour the Texas State Capitol while everyone else was napping.

Here is a picture looking down from the capitol to the start of the race.  Beautiful views.

The Texas Capital is so beautiful.  Here is a picture looking up into the rotunda.

What mom?  Dee and I are educating ourselves.

Even the door hinges were decorated.

Looking down from the third floor: 

I would like to introduce you to the future governor of Texas:

After our tour, we decided that ice cream was a necessity, so we found Amy's Ice Cream thanks to the GPS on my phone.  (Aren't Iphones wonderful!)  Amy's is kind of like Marble Slab or Cold Stone creamery, but with a local Austin touch.  The workers actually through ice cream scoops in the air pizza dough style.  So fun! 

After ice cream it was back to the hotel for more nap time. Naked, of course.  

We packed in so much in to Saturday since it was our only day for sightseeing.  After the race on Sunday, Bill  , Evan and I headed straight back to OKC.   We cannot wait to travel to Austin again and hopefully stay longer next time, maybe even see a band or two.  You know it is the live music capital of the world, right!?!