Power Outage and Self Portraits

We had our first Texas storm last night!

Sheets of rain AND

crazy lightening...

followed by a 2 hour power outage.

The thing with power outages is that they are cool for about 15 minutes. You jump around and try to find the flashlight, talk about telling scary stories, then realize that your food might go bad in the fridge and the TV doesn't work.

Luckily the power came back on before we went to bed, because even during the storm it barely dipped below 90 degrees, which means without AC in our apartment, we would be having a repeat of this.

Earlier today we decided to hang out on the patio (standing room only due to the reoccurring pile of storage bins). We took self portraits:

It's me, Homestar

The Shums

Seemed like a good idea?

Summer Night at the BatFest

Every year Austin holds a summer festival called BatFest!

The proceeds go towards the protection of the colonies of bats that live in Austin (even though I'm pretty sure protecting them means leaving them alone, which doesn't really cost anything).
Oh well, I will gladly give my 7 bucks to the cause.

James&Lauren and Mark&Julie

We're Austin-ites

Pretty cool band called AlphaRev

Ahh...vendor food. Pulled pork sandwiches (I had a corn dog)

James and Lauren

The bats

Dave's first bite EVER of a funnel cake. Ya. This is momentous

Hi from us

Under Water Watermelon Football

Last night we met up with some people in the ward and played
under water watermelon football

I had to post about it on here so you guys could go out and play it before summer is over because this game is AWESOME!

Basically you get a watermelon (small to medium size) and play football in the pool. Split into 2 teams and place the watermelon in the middle. Then both teams race to the middle and try to touch the other side of the pool while holding the watermelon.

The trick is, you can only pass the watermelon under the water, no throwing.

Spend some time outside today!

A Visit From Some Pretty Great People

My parents came into town for the weekend and just left about an hour ago. We had to show them the beauties of Austin. Here was the itinerary:

Friday: Lunch at Rudy's BBQ. This is a serious BBQ joint...Texas style. Like, 7 choices for meat, 8 sides, smokey BBQ sauce, huge sodas - and they are all served on (wait for it) a strip of butcher paper. That's right, plates don't exist. And the meat? Delicious to the max.

Lunch was followed by shopping around the outlets and hanging out at our apartment. Later that night we headed to Clay Pit for Indian food and went back to the apartment to watch "Knowing" staring Mr. Nicholas Cage (who needs to make friends with a hair stylist).

Saturday: Floated the San Marcos river!

This was tons of fun. You rent a tube and then just go. It takes about an hour because there isn't a strong currant, but it is so fun. We had lunch at some little Mexican restaurant called Mamacitas (which by the way, I got called "mamacita" the other day by some guy mowing the lawn at our apartment). 

Today we went to church and made a delicious pork/cheesy potato dinner and took them to the airport. I am so lucky to have parents who say things like this:

Dad - "I want to go to a Beyonce concert."

Me - "Oh ya, like you know any Beyonce songs."

At this moment, both parents proceed to sing "All My Single Ladies" and they seriously knew the lyrics..."If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Oh and my dad corrected me, Fergie is not saying "Gotta get that Boom Boom Pow" she says, "Gotta get get..."

Thanks dad ;)

Broken AC and Delicious Refreshment

So last week, our AC broke. Brand new apartment, brand new AC - but I guess this has been happening all over Texas because of the 197 degree weather.

85 in our apartment (it got up to 88 at one point)

Ice...my only friend

It is fixed now though and running strong at 77. I wish I would have had some of this during that time:

Now Presenting:
How to Properly Cut a Watermelon

Or do this...

Barton Creek Springs

Dave and I had the funnest (it's a word, don't worry) day in Austin today. It's so fun that he gets Wednesdays off. It makes the late Monday night work nights worth it.

Today we went down to Zilker park in downtown Austin and swam in the infamous Barton Creek Springs.

It is a natural springs (salamander, algae, and all) pool OR as Texans affectionately call it "WATERHOLE." You have to say it with an accent though.

Dave and I went to check it out and take a dip in what we've heard is icy cold water. People were not exaggerating. That water was coooooooo (times 97 more os) ld. Seriously like 63 degrees. It was 106 outside today. So imagine the temperature difference! We did it though.

While watching teenagers duke it out on the diving board, we even had a turtle swim by us.

Afterwards, we had a real treat...a frozen chocolate covered banana from a lil' ol' place called Bananarchy.

Yes it was inspired by Arrested Development

I had to give the lady some $ for a tip since the comment on her tip jar was so clever:
"We always keep money in the banana stand."

Why are so many of my posts about food?

So, tonight was BRINNER (breakfast for dinner)


Thick "Everything" Pancakes
Recipe:

Follow the Bisquick recipe - add vanilla extract and whatever else you want. Ideas = bananas, walnuts, blueberries, coconut, pineapple, or all of the above.

I am thinking we should have pancakes more often.

Oh and here's the recipe for Dave's famous homemade syrup (you'll never get store bought again)

1-3/4 c white sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

1 c water

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. maple extract

Mix the white and brown sugar with the water, bring to a boil.

Cover and cook for about a minute.

Add the vanilla and maple, mix well and let cool.