NXNW Oktoberfest

Ryan and Sarah love beer and never miss an opportunity to raise Luke right.

That's right, Luke is too cool for Bud Light.

We went to the North by Northwest Brewery Oktoberfest to enjoy some local beer...

...yes... we enjoyed most of it before we remembered to take a picture...

...and we also got to check out the polka bands, although it was a little too crowded to dance. But we all enjoyed the music!

Luke got the opportunity to show off his many faces to our fellow revelers.

And he tried out the bounce house...

...although he didn't get much beyond the entrance and never got up to jump.

But we did meet up with Adolfo and Pinty the Bear! We'll definitely be back at NXNW next year!

Family reunion, part 2

We drove around Flathead Lake and visited a couple of other breweries the next day while Luke stayed at the house with Grandpa John. First, Flathead Lake Brewing Company in Woods Bay, where we picked up a growler and shared a couple of pints around.

Then, we visited a quilt shop and an antique shop. No, there are no pictures. Sorry!

After that, we drove further around Flathead Lake and found Tamarack Brewing Company in Lakeside. We had some excellent food and excellent brews, followed by some excellent photo opportunities outside the brewpub.

Luke's first haircut

A week before we took some family portraits, we realized it was time for Luke to get his first haircut. At 11 months old, he was getting quite shaggy.

So we took him to Birds Barbershop in Austin, where Ryan and Luke would both get a haircut. They even give you beer while you wait!

We had only made it through about half of one beer when they called us back. Ryan got caped up and held Luke on his lap.

Finally, it was time for Julia to start snipping.





But the snipping didn't last long - Luke started fidgeting and I had to put the camera down while Julia quickly worked some magic with her clippers. Soon she was done, and Luke looked great!

Saturday at Independence

Luke sure likes going to breweries. Ok, it probably doesn't look like we're at a brewery, but we're at the First Saturday tasting at Independence Brewing right here in Austin. We had some tasty samples, even though we kinda didn't have a wristband. What can I say... nothing stands between us and our beer!

St. Arnold Pilgrimage

Ryan and I got to go to Houston, all by ourselves, for a little overnight getaway. So of course we went to the St. Arnold Brewing Company!

We got there right before 11am, when the tastings opened.

Ryan had lots of questions for the volunteers in charge of dispensing tastings.

Honestly, I'm not as think as you drunk I am.

Check out the awesome beergarden/tasting room!

  Here's Ryan, with Brock Wagner, the founder of St. Arnold Brewing Company. Isn't that a great picture? Everyone looks good, nobody looks drunk or blurry...

...well, almost nobody.

Bye, St. Arnold! We had a great time!