MGF 2006

The annual MGF (Mass/Mini Gathering of Friends) took place in Austin, Texas this year. We hosted the gathering with the Cimato Family, Joe was the logistics manager, Cat and Todd were the resident chefs, and Bruce the Loose Tooth was the kids' entertainment specialist.

The weekend started off on Friday with us escorting Bruce from the airport to our restaurant of choice, Taquerias Arandas #6. We preceded over to the Cimato Hotel and took advantage of the beautiful day and the pool. After Joe got home from work, we ate yummy food at their house & chilled until Jason was to fly in. Joe, Bruce, Steve and Jason had a guy's night out until 2 am.

Cat's thin pancakes started out Saturday morning with a bang, and Todd & Karina joined the party soon after. We all loaded up the canoes (Joe had a pretty pink canoe on the top of his manly jeep) and headed to Zilker Park. We met Grammy & Grandpa by the water to hand off Samuel & Maya for the evening. After most of us braved the 68 degrees of Barton Springs, we all headed to Shady Grove for margaritas & eats. The stories started flowing and didn't stop for the rest of the weekend. One of my personal favorites was Todd's exciting thriller about his tenant's compound fracture and a freaky firefighter. After dinner, we headed to the showers to get ready for a night on 6th street.

All dolled up, we head to 6th street. Joe leads us to a parking garage and stalls Cat's car going up the entrance ramp-you'll never live that one down, Joe. We bar hop from loud bar to musty bar to Speakeasy. Stephen really enjoyed the cover band, Velvet Love Box, at Speakeasy. After a long day, especially for the Rapposelli Team, we went home with a short detour to Katz's for a Reuben and cheesecake to go. I slept soooo hard until cute little Todd stuck his head in our room asking for the car keys and directions to the closest grocery store.

11am Sunday morning Todd whipped up his famous European meat, cheese and oranges platter, cheesy eggs and french toast. It was yummy! Stephen & Jason threw out the idea of disc golf, and we all (except Karina & Cat) followed their lead to Mary Moore Searight Park. Stephen, Jason, Joe & I were the only three that had experience on the disc course, although I am nowhere near Steve, Joe & Jay's league.

Bruce did an awesome job for only having minimal or no experience.

Yes, that leaves Todd Rapposelli that developed his own style of disc throwing & kept me in the game. The final ranking after being "pretty tight in the backend" was Steve, Joe, Jason, Bruce, and following way behind, Todd & myself (we tied, Thanks for coming along, Todd). After 15 minute refreshes, we all caravanned to the Salt Lick.

Now, those of you that are unfamiliar with Salt Lick Bar-B-Q, you are missing out on some of the greatest food in the world!!! We met Grammy, Samuel, Maya, and Otis there, and all slurped down brisket, sausage, ribs, and cobbler. The night continued until midnight at the Cimato Oasis. I really did not suffer through many repeat stories and tried to enjoy the reminiscing of old cartoon shows. The kids, Karina & I finally departed to home, leaving Stephen in Mr. Steven's hands. Jason promised to take some Kerbey Queso back to a co-worker in CA, so all the boys took a late night romp to Kerbey Lane. After putting the kids to bed, I hear cackling out my back windows. I assume that our ill-mannered, obnoxious neighbors are staying up late when I recognize one of the laughs. I go down to say goodnight to the "Hooligans" on our back porch, and am greeted with, "A guy walks into a talent agency..."
The weekend was great, but we missed all of the other hooligans and their families, especially the single, no family to tie him down, with ability to fly down to Texas and spend time with some of his greatest friends, Jeff Martini.

Until next year!!!