as most of you know by now, the andrich family is a big ‘family’ family.  we had the time of our lives when everyone came to atlanta for kari and kyle’s wedding last october, and since none of our parents are turning 60 this year, we figured we’d begin a new tradition in an annual cousin trip.  yep, just like that we instituted the first of these new get-togethers over in austin, texas.  most of us had never been, and with it being pretty much halfway between georgia and california, it seemed like a pretty solid destination.

thirteen of us total made the trip, and that number included phillip.  oooh, our first time traveling together!  and so soon!  yes, yes, we’ve only been together a couple of months, but when you know, you know.  so, it was a very early five a.m. when we woke up, packed our suitcases, and made our way to hartsfield-jackson international airport.  after getting our boarding passes, we shuffled through security with hundreds of other sleepy travelers.  although it was a busy morning there already, it was quiet, so we tried not to be too disruptive as we waited for our plane.

since we’d checked our bags, we relaxed at the gate and coolly walked on that md90 towards the end of the line.  we were on the left of the plane in the two-seat row, a nice cozy setup for a quick two-hour flight westward.  we of course took a few pictures, but none of them had both of us looking our best at the same time, so phillip craftily composed this cropped mashup of the two of us.  hehe.

such a happy couple!

it seemed like we had just finished our breakfast smoothies when we touched down in the lonestar state.  with an early flight came an early arrival, and we practically had the whole day ahead of us.  we deplaned and snatched our suitcases from carousel five.  the taxi line was short, so we quickly hopped in a cab with a driver who looked exactly like quint from the movie jaws.  he had a little bit of an oddball demeanor that made for an entertaining ride to san bernard street.  we grabbed the luggage, thanked the driver for his advice, and joined kyle and kari in chinquapin, our massive and funky abode for the next 48 hours.  when you’ve got a baker’s dozen to accommodate, your selection pool is narrowed down pretty quickly.  we got a speedy tour of the common space and then took a stroll up the block to the nearby liquor store j&j spirits.

me, doing about what you would expect me to be doing.

okay, yes, it wasn’t even noon yet, but we needed to stock up the fridge for all the cousins who would soon be in town!  the cashier was kind as we perused this quaint shop for the necessities:  seagram’s, fireball, white wine, red wine.  yep, that oughta do it…at least for a rew hours.  kyle and phillip used their big muscles to lift those heavy bags, and it was back to the house we went.

look at our hunks!

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