Austin ModHouse

#1 son wanted to visit a haunted house, I said I'd make it happen.  so we went to the house of torment.  he assured me he could not be frightened. 

this ghoul snuck up behind him in line, he never saw it coming!

he didn't jump squeal or cry.  he said "hello mr monster"

the haunted house tour was about 30 minutes long.  the obvious creatures jumping out of the darkness and gory scenes.  the only time he seemed remotely scared was when I picked him up to use as a human shield against a spooky monster that attacked us from behind. 

we attended the yelp "open party".  as usual, lots of swag (free promotional stuff) a big food buffet, free Lonestar and free eristoff vodka drinks 

there was a burlesque crew between the 80's music and the evening peaked when they played "thriller" complete with dancers. 

lots of dancing and moving around going on.

and our favorite way to close an evening of downtown fun, chi'lantro korean chicken burrito with extra spicy kimchi and runny egg.

mom and I took the two boys down for a little work at our blanco river place down in wimberley.  #2 son wanted to help.

I flipped the door handle and lock so we can now lock the place up from the inside.  I reworked the frame with some scrap wood so it now closes securely.  I had found the door standing open when I arrived. 

mom stuck to our intended task, applying some white primer paint. 

but the real treat for making the trip down is....  the blanco river itself.  we took the dogs down so they can have a look at their future playground.

BIGGER

and we had yet another eanes elementary fall fiesta/carnival:

this was our seventh year attending this event, and I have seven more in my future.  HALF WAY!

I volunteered to work a booth this year.  it wasn't bad. 

#2 son acted as photo assistant while I set up the lighting for some halloween-ish photos

BIGGER

#2 son is growing up to be a decent person, the terrible twos are starting to fade, yet persistent.

 PART TWO TOMORROW...

Posted by paul at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

daughter and the hill country middle school orchestra, directed by rachel horwitz had their first performance of the year.  they sounded great!

had a good meal at afin japanese modern tapas joint, great happy hour deal too!

kat loved the pork belly confit, the portion was HUGE.  some of the other "tapas" were hit and miss.  they all looked great.

another notable edible this week would be these chunks of rainbow, 100% delicious. 

attended a preview party for EAST (east austin studio tour) with our friends over at Bay6

daughter in the studio of catherine small, really liked her work

is Baird pointing at my shoes?  or sebastian's shoes?

music was provided by the Twilight Trio

I DID return to pump it up,  this is the first of these parties that #2 son has attended.  I accept that I will be returning to PIU and blazer tag or the zoo for the next six years or so. 

he freaked out a bit, thought I had left.  but he quickly got into the groove and even mastered the big slides.

#1 son was all too happy to tag along.  he fit right in with the preschool crowd.

chocolate cupake mustachio

orchestra fall festival pizza social ended with an ice cream mustachio.

#1 son took the bok choi boi pic using my camera at the request of #2 son

Posted by paul at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

one great thing about living in austin, if you grow up, it's your own damn fault. 

every once in a while, people get together to race cars, at 1:64 scale.  and maybe enjoy some pub grub and proper beers at the dog and duck pub.

austin diecast drags!

vintage vans were represented by carl

carl let kat have access to some of the cars he wasn't racing.  she did some test runs to pick two.  then they entered the grid for competetive runs.

and kat was on a winning streak.  you can see above, she was hooked. 

you can see the two pics above, and the one below, the competetive stance and intense concentration.

carl ended second overall and kat came in third but everybody had a good time.

of course there were lots of cool 1:1 scale cars as well.  love that classic 50's rear style (above).  you could easily mistake the car below as classic american design from the 50's, it's actually a volvo 122S, and this guy installed air bags in his.  I was highly amused when he pulled up and I saw it drop the ground.  good stuff!

Posted by paul at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spent the week hauling dead wood from the back of the acre, out to the street.  a lot of it is from when the lot was cleared for construction... and there is a lot of it.  the brush pile is now much larger than the excursion.

SA DCW:

I previously mentioned that I'd found a DCW, or a 1964 Ford Falcon Deluxe Club Wagon.  kat regularly notes that she likes window vans, not cargo vans (like my orange van).  and then one day... I was killing time on the internet while I waited for the school bus... and I found a pretty rare window van.  the ford falcon deluxe club wagon has all sorts of unique bits and pieces, like chrome bumpers, side trim and special interior bits.  I ran down to san antonio, negotiated with the seller (via interpreter), made a deal and brought it home. 

utility trailer tacos in SA:

and we made a SECOND trip to san antonio to pick up a utility trailer.  now that I have all this dead wood pulled from the back of the property, I need to haul it away.  and if we have to go to san antonio, we might as well have some tacos al pastor....

I wish I could tell you they were as good as the first time I had them there, but consistency problems seem to plague this place.  some had almost no meat and the tortillas did not taste as fresh...  but we still love la gloria's.  the tamal de dia was fantastic, a chicken mole' tamale!

 

I encouraged the kids to order a dessert, I let it be known that it would be in exchange for more lumberjacking labor from them.  they enjoyed tres leches and they did work it off.  the two older kids put in three hours of hard work each, hauling sticks from the back of the property to the front.  I was real proud of them. 

 

we love that area down there around the old pearl brewery.  they were having a "herb fest" and a farmer's market with a live band.  we walked around and agreed to buy some herb, but then #2 son threw a fit and I had to carry him all the way back to the truck, kicking and screaming.

really cool light fixture made from pearl brewry assembly line parts

PUMPED UP:

as a parent of three kids, I have grown weary from all the school functions, emails, and especially Pump-it-up birthday parties.  #2 son is not old enough that I can just drop him off at a pump it up birthday party.  I end up spending the two hours watching kids jump, collide, cry, eat cake/sugar and go jump and collide all over again. 

kat unpacks his backpack, she gave me the bad news, Pump It Up birthday party, saturday.  I'm the parent that takes care of this sort of crap, and I'm a punctual person. I was stressed when I was running late and managed to leave my iphone at home. I really needed that map feature to find that PIU place.  we arrived late to find out the party is NEXT saturday, we never recorded the actual date (ugh).  relieved that I wasn't late and didn't have to spend my next two hours watching the chaos unfold, I went home.  I knew I only had 24 hours till sunday's school function, a class party for #1 son.

but this party was not like the others....  this party was as much for parents as for kids.  they provided pizza for all and wine for the adults while the kids ran and played...

 

and when somebody noted all the white wine was gone, I jumped in to help.  I dug deep into the ice chest and pulled up a bottle of stags' leap!  HOORAY!  well, I felt such gratitude that when I got home I volunteered to help with the school carnival.  see how good juice can cure grumpiness. 

 

utility trailer in action.  made my first load to the county landfill.  I admit we have a lot of stuff around the property that needs to be hauled off.  I'm going to be making weekly deposits. 

it's great to have talented friends.  the drawing of my orange 1965 econoline van is by ray pena

(slightly bigger here)  (original photo here)

Posted by paul at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

we knew there was a good chance of rain.  but we went ahead with our regular october trip to garner. 

the interior space of the airstream is very useful when the weather outside is not so great.  the kids had some halloween craft fun.

I had plans to climb mount baldy, I was not afraid of getting wet.  I stopped at the visitor center to get a trail map, they asked what I was planing to hike.  they tried to talk me out of my hike, went on about slippery rocks and steep this and danger that and danger....  blah blah blah. 

kat had recently noted that our place on the blanco river is just as nice as where we often soak in the rio frio, we may not go to garner 2x a year now that we have a closer blanco option.  I figured this may be my last chance to climb her (baldy that is).

yep, that is a sheer drop behind the wife.  it made my knees knock being that close to the edge.  I don't like heights but I still wanted to get to the top.

we made it!

(big it)  we stopped for a break and enjoy the view.  the wind was strong there near the edge of top.

from rio frio looking up at mount baldy.  we made it down without breaking an ankle.

after lunch, we walked down the the river (rio frio)

the water was clear, and cold.  but the wind and cooler temps had us back at the camp in a short time.

river baby LOVES the river.  he would've stayed all day if we let him.

(big it up for the puppy)

the burn ban does allow LP fueled fires, kids appreciated that. 

adults played under the zipdee while kids watched bluray movies inside the airstream.

 right around 9 PM, the sky opened up and it DUMPED water on everything.  I felt bad for the tent campers.  we were warm and dry inside the airstream.  the weather had no real chance of improving.  we went home a day early.  once we got home, we found a notice from the city.  they had found Hsin-Hsin's wall and wanted it gone, we had ten days from when the letter was mailed.  if not removed we would face a $2k fine PER DAY. 

so we spent the last day of the vacation hauling stick from the back of the lot, to the street. 

#1 son protested and cried "this was supposed to be a FUN day!"  but when the city sends out a letter like that, fun and games come to a screeching halt. 

the 1965 econoline van spent four months at the mechanic, I had a nice replacement engine and transmission for them to install.  they finally admitted that they were not going to get around to the job... I asked if they could at least rebuild the carb and tune-up the engine in there, they never did that either.  I drove it back home in the same condition I took it to them. 

Posted by paul at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the PERFECT weather that we usually enjoy fall and spring (and sometimes winter) has returned to austin.  I dropped the top on the e30 and it was big fun.

the e30 has proven itself to be one of the more reliable and efficient members of the stable. 

had a few friends over for some wine and cheese. 

(big it!)

we made it back to wimberley to enjoy our private blanco river access.  kat was able to join us this week.  it was nice!

the daughter didn't get full enjoyment, "I can't really relax when I know I still have so much homework to do". 

kat surprised me as I rearranged a few rocks.

(more of the bigging it up)

there are a few maple trees starting to show fall colors, the cypress trees are starting to turn golden.  we also found some palmetto growing along the river.

he thought he was funny, shoving his finger in his nose when I tried to take his pic....  yes , I will save this and show it to him when he is 21 (as my dad will surely suggest).

we had a japanese beer tasting, kirin ichiban reserve against sapporo reserve.  both winners!  and I made a pizza that turned out great.  gorgonzoloa, asiago, proscioutto with oven roasted garlic and onion, rosemary and drizzled with honey. 

explored balcones city park, normally a waterfall comes down over all those rocks...  drought!

started cleaning out kat's barn.  need to get a trailer to start making a weekly dump run.

I found a falcon deluxe club wagon (econoline window van) 

Posted by paul at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)