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Jes’ 44th Birthday

Yesterday, we celebrated Jes’ birthday on his actual birthday. We took the day off work, sent the kids to school, and then went to Napa for lunch at Bouchon.

We started the meal with the salade lyonnaise and salmon rillettes.

Jes ordered the steak frites and I got a giant bowl of mussels in a garlic butter broth.

For dessert, they gave him a little package of their chocolate bouchons. So cute!

A trip to Bouchon would not be complete without stopping at their bakery next door. I wanted to get all the things but ended up with just a few goodies to share with kids later that evening.

Peanut made Jes a card complete with balloons, fish stickers, and his own writing. He chose to sign it “Peanut”.

The kids sang “Happy Birthday” and helped him blow out the candles on his lemon tart and chocolate eclair.

The next day, we had dinner at Ian’s house. He invited us over for some wagyu beef that he bought for Jesse.

What had also been planned was a surprise visit by all the guys at the end of the night.

They arrived with cakes and whiskey.

We were all in on it and he was indeed surprised. That was very cool of them to do that for him.

 

Austin – Day Two


After our meal at la Barbecue in the morning, we walked back to our hotel in the noon heat. By the time we got back, we were ready for something indoors.


So, we went to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema that is famous for having table service at your seat. At the ticket counter, we purchased out movie tickets for Mission Impossible along with our first drinks.


Once we sat down, a server came by to show us how to order in the middle of the movie. What a fun experience and great way to cool off.


Right outside of the theater was a mini shopping area that had an ice cream shoppe called Lick. They had SO MANY flavors to choose from.


I ended up going really simple with salted caramel and coffee scoops.


We did a little more walking back toward the Colorado River. We crossed the foot bridge to check out the paddlers below and the graffiti all along the railroad tracks.


Our next stop was Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue where they had Happy Hour specials. I had a giant glass of ice cold water and then a glass of white wine with a frito pie! Yum.


By the time we finished, there was just enough time to walk over to the Congress Avenue Bridge to check out the bats that come out at dusk. It was quite the sight.


We were lucky to have perfect timing on our arrival. By the time we made our way down toward the underside of the bridge, it was just minutes before they all came out all at once. What a unique way to end our day!

Austin – la Barbecue


This morning, we got up in time to get to La Barbecue before it opened (~10:30am).


Here’s the menu in front.


We made it to the first part of the line and waited until it opened at 11. It was nice to be able to wait indoors where they were running the A/C. They also served drinks before the meat counter opened.


When we got to the counter, we ordered a beef rib, sausage, and brisket.

We also got their beans, pickles, and jalapeno slaw. They also threw in a couple slices of white bread.


Jesse had been looking forward to this trip in hopes of tasting a really good brisket and he was not disappointed.


Look at that smoke ring! It was tender and had a nice bark.


Here’s the beef rib. It was HUGE and equally delicious.


This was my perfect bite: white bread, a little bit of tangy sauce, and some of the beef rib with bark. Yum.

Austin – Day One


We sent the kids down to Southern California for a couple weeks so Jes and I took the opportunity to take a non-kid trip to Austin! We had an early morning flight and checking in was so simple without two little ducklings tagging along.


We had one stop at Phoenix mid-morning with a 1-hr layover so I had some morning bubbles. Heh heh.


When we arrived, one of the first things we did was something that has become sort of a tradition now. Jes had forgotten his sunglasses AGAIN so we went to the mall to buy him some new ones.


When we checked into the hotel, they gave us a corner room that had a view of the capitol building.


After a dip in the pool to cool off in the 95-degree heat and humidity, we went out to 6th Street to take in the sights and sounds. We stopped at The Library, which had a one-man band who played his version of popular songs.


We also found a taqueria that has really unique (and spicy) tacos and some pretty tasty margaritas.


When it got dark, we found a bar called SanJac that had a live band getting ready to start. We ended up staying the rest of the night to enjoy the music.


What a fun night!

42

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I turned 42 on Thursday and it was a nice coincidence that it landed on my usual day off of the week. Jesse took the day off too. The day started with breakfast at a cafe in Emeryville followed by some browsing and shopping for kitchen countertops, applicances, and cabinets. We are planning to remodel the kitchen soon and needed to get some stuff picked out. For lunch, we went to Trabocco and shared a burrata platter and prosecco. After the main entrees, we ordered a small affogatto and the owner/chef came out with a special “Happy Birthday” platter and sang to me.

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That was very sweet in so many ways.

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On Friday evening, the family sang to me and helped me blow out candles.

Saying Goodbye

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This is one of my favorite photos of KK and Koa.

This evening, KK heard a dog barking outside and said “That’s not Koa, right?” I said “You’re right, that’s not Koa”.  Then she followed up with “It’s because Koa’s dead and I didn’t get to say goodbye before he died”.  It took me aback since today is the 3rd anniversary of his passing. After a long pause, I  told her “No, you actually did say goodbye at the hospital.” She looked confused so I found this old video that we took before we let him go.

https://youtu.be/Sovj0Ns60XI

She watched it, giggled a little, and said “Oh.” I’m not sure how well she remembers him but she always talks about him. KK turned 4 1/2 years old today and each half-birthday for KK will always leave a bittersweet feeling for me.

https://youtu.be/fh3BAmLXdlY

He left us on the day she turned 18 months old and I will never forget that day – especially when we came home without him that afternoon. I’m so glad that KK had some quality time with him but sad that he couldn’t stick around to meet Peanut. They would have had so much fun together.

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