Another Reunion in Austin

We had a long and fun weekend in Austin. It was for Karl's grandparent's (Nissen, his mom's side) 50th wedding anniversary. Thursday night we flew to Austin. Amy picked us up from the airport. She was also kind enough to let us stay the night at her house. We arrived in time for Karl to see the last 7 seconds of the NBA finals in the airport terminal (Go Spurs!), but much to Angela's chagrin, we still had to stay up late with Amy and Brenden to watch the recorded game. Angela was super tired. Good thing Amy provided yummy brownies and ice cream.

Friday we spent the day with Chris and Katie and Davin (who was very well behaved and slept most of the day). We drove down to Fredericksburg (a small German town west of Austin) and walked around Main Street. We stopped in one little shop that had a plethora of sample food to taste. There was honey butter, jams, preserves, salsa, sauces, and many other bottled foods. Angela really enjoyed the maple nut honey butter, and Karl enjoyed the green tomato relish. We stopped at a German restaurant for lunch. We shared a Rueben sandwich and sausage sandwich. Our next stop was San Antonio and the Alamo. Angela almost died in the heat. It was neat to see (the Alamo, not Angela almost dying). We then walked the Riverwalk. It was fun, but hot. Angela and Katie were worn out by the time the men found a place to eat (of course, if Karl had been content to stop there the first time we passed it, we wouldn't have had to walk around the entire Riverwalk before we ate). We ate at a place called Mexican Manhattan, which, as you may have already guessed, served Russian food. Just kidding. The food was cheap and just "ok." They called chips tostadas and tostadas chalupas. Interesting. Friday night we stayed again with Amy.

Saturday we went to the Olive Garden with the entire Nissen extended family, including Karl's great-aunt Monica and uncle Peter from Germany. The food was great and it was fun to see everyone. After checking into a hotel where most of the Rees clan was staying, we spent the rest of the evening at the Nissen house. We first had pictures taken before the reception started. Then we just hung out the rest of the night. It's funny to watch the whole family interact. Angela now understands more about why Karl's so weird. But it sure is great to have such a funny and big family. There was some yummy finger food. The only bad thing about finger food is that it is impossible to stop eating it, because you always think you'll have "just one more." The brownies were the worst because they were so good. At the hotel we played a couple of games with Becky, Wayne, Katie, Chris, and Bryan. Karl won at Flux the two times we played it.

Sunday we went to church and then headed back to the Nissen house. We spent the afternoon eating a brisket, potato salad, and beans, and visiting with family. Karl enjoyed sitting in the living room, trying to remember his German as his grandparents chatted with his great aunt and uncle (who fortunately are much better at English than Karl is at German). We also played a few games of Flux, and this time Angela won a couple of them. We stopped by Karl's Aunt Linda's house and chatted for a while, and Karl also showed her around the house, which is a mirror image of the one the Rees family grew up in. Although the house is perfectly roomy for a couple of people, Angela was amazed that six kids could grow up in two very small and crowded bedrooms. In the evening most of the family climbed a "mountain"—an Austin mountain, not a Utah mountain. Austin mountains are more like hills, by the way. Angela kept looking for the peak as we got closer and closer. When we got there it was so small, she had to ask, "Is this it?" The climb up the mountain took about 15 minutes with a few stops along the way (it wasn't that small—we just drove most of the way up it). The view was pretty, though, as it looks over Lake Austin on one side and the city skyline on the other. We watched the sunset and then made our way down. Since UT had just won the college baseball World Series, we drove by the university in hopes of seeing the tower lit orange. We were disappointed to see that is was not.

Monday we had an adventure. We first went to Karl's credit union to add Angela to the account. After leaving the credit union, we heard a little pop and the car got bumpy and made some weird noises. Grandpa's car had a flat. Karl, a "manly man," changed the tire with the spare. Unfortunately, we couldn't get down to Zilker Park for a swim or play with Karl's sister Susie, but it didn't keep us from enjoying our last few hours in Austin. Katie and Chris picked us up and we made our way to the original Salt Lick restaurant, where we also met Amy. It had some excellent BBQ—Karl can only think of one Texas BBQ place he likes better.

Nothing else too eventful occurred this week, except Angela did have dinner on Tuesday with her travel buddies. They leave on Thursday for Europe (this time without her). They went to Los Hermanos while Karl watch basketball.

Now we're back home, and wish it were already July 4th weekend.

Posted June 28, 2005 (10:15 AM) | Comments (1)