Family Time

So my family made it.  They got in Wednesday evening and we all went to dinner.  They finally got to meet Matt and they really like him.  Dinner was good – we went to a Mexican restaurant on this side of town that was voted the best by locals.  It was good, but not amazing.  I still like a couple of other places here better.  But it was good to visit and spend time with family that I don’t get to see very often. 

Yesterday was a full day of activity.  We headed to a kiddie park in the morning with my cousin’s three young kids to celebrate their birthdays.  It is a mini-amusement park with rides just for kids.  They seemed to enjoy it and had a nice time.  We had cake and opened presents and everyone was happy.  After that, we went to downtown and had lunch at Chili’s on the Riverwalk. I was disappointed in my meal, but everyone else’s was o.k.  After that we took the boat tour on the river.  It was interesting and I got more out of it after living here this past year.  We then went to marble slab for some ice cream.  We made a brief stop at the Alamo before heading back to the hotel.  (You have to visit the Alamo if you’re from out of town and never been there – then you can say “I remember the Alamo.”)  We then went to dinner at Johnny Carino’s.  By then I was pretty full so I only ate half my dinner.  My aunt and uncle and cousin’s family came over to the house after dinner.  I was glad they could finally see my place with the new furniture and stuff.  The last time my aunt and uncle were here, I hadn’t even gotten unpacked.  Of course this may be the last time they see this house.  Hopefully I’ll be in a new place in another month or two. 

Today we went to Sea World.  It was fun, but hot.  This morning wasn’t too bad, but it seemed to get hot after lunch when we finally went to ride the coasters.  After that, we mostly sat.  We left around 4:30 then went to the store to get a few groceries to get us through the next few days until payday.  Matt grilled some brats for dinner.  Josh had a crisis moment when he couldn’t find his receipt for his PS3 that has broken.  Luckily, he found it and there was much rejoicing.  He bought it less than a year ago and it has stopped working so at least he can now get it repaired or replaced. 

Tomorrow is the big reunion/birthday party for my uncle’s mother who is 95.  Matt, Josh, and I are going up to Austin in the morning.  We’ll have lunch in at this diner/cafe that we saw on the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Well, it’s been a long day.  I think I’m going to take a shower and then call it a night.