We dropped Clairey off at college and left her in the best hands possible down in San Antonio.
I can’t say much because I’m still feeling pretty bitter-sweet about it.
I drove down with Claire in her car, then we all helped her move in, did some shopping, spent the night, did the various orientations, and had a “hello goodbye” picnic.
And then the administration insisted that we parents actually, you know, leave.
I was really happy we could all be there for Claire, even Molly, who missed an afternoon of high school to make the trip to SA.
I’m so proud of you Claire!
For the first time as a dad, I can really say that I wish you were five years old again. 🥲
But even though you’re officially “all grows up” now, we still have a lifetime ahead of us of goofing off and having deep talks about history and philosophy. Based on your new location, something tells me those talks are only going to get better. 👩🎓
With Claire headed off to college in two days, we were looking for something fun to do. Molly suggested we go to Cumbl Cookies to get the official limited-edition Olivia Rodrigo GUTS cookie.
We had been deeply amused by one review of this cookie that went viral, describing it as “Olivia Rodriguez, that little Mexican girl that be crying… zero out of ten.”
“Hey Dad, the Olivia Rodrigo cookie is back!” Molly told me.
“We have to go try it,” I said.
And so on the last official night with me and Claire and Molly before Claire goes off and conquers the world (starting with college), we hit Crumble for the GUTS cookie. We gave it eight out of ten. Claire got a super good chocolate chip cookie. We also had Indian street food and a pretty animated discussion about music, dating, and feminism.
It was such a beautiful, perfect night and literally a bitter-sweet way to wrap up our nostalgic summer and send off our Clairey.
As the summer winds down and Claire is almost off to college, we’re feeling a bit nostalgic.
So we went to the original Pinballz Arcade, an old favorite up in North Austin today.
Down the Clown is hands down (so to speak) our favorite game. It’s just so much fun to down those pesky clowns with a time-limited flow of rubber balls. Classic.
When we were playing, I asked the girls to pose for a picture.
“Why?”, Molly said.
“So I can put it on the kids blog along with the other times we’ve come here!” I replied.
With my brother Tim going though some life changes lately – a new house, a new girlfriend, even a new kid and a dog in his life – we’ve aiming for a visit to Washington DC (technically, Northern Virginia) to see his new haunts.
So we finally got it together and actually planned a summer trip with the whole family to check out (or “Czech out”, as Tim would say) Tim’s new situation.
This audacious plan included getting myself and two other generations (Claire and Molly along with my Mom, aged 82) on an airplane to DC, during what turned out to be a worldwide computer outage affecting, largely, airlines. Our flight was delayed by a few hours, but luckily, we got to while that time away peacefully at home. 🙏
The whole gang!
This was primarily a family trip, and we enjoyed exploring Tim’s neighborhood, getting pizza by the Potomac, swimming, playing board games, and getting attacked repeatedly with a rubber snake and a fart gun (thanks, Avett 😜).
Claire and I have also been on a Lincoln kick due to the incredible show Manhunt about the Lincoln assassination and the ensuing hunt for his elusive killer. So we did make a trip into downtown DC to see Ford’s Theater, the infamous site of Lincoln’s murder. Claire and I both got chills as we stood beside the very balcony where the great man was slain. 😢
We also checked out Lincoln’s summer cottage, the pastoral alternative to the White House, where Abe spent much of the Civil War.
Tim heroically drove us all there and avoided crossing some theoretical red dotted lines on a paper map (unmarked in the real world) that would mean his immediate arrest as a the federal offense. Federal law apparently does not take kindly to trespassing on the surrounding US Army retirement home. Good driving, Tim!
I’m so glad we got to visit Tim in his natural surroundings along with Claire 2, Avett the maniac, and Waffle the monster, while it’s still possible, before Claire goes off to college and starts getting busy with her own summers.
Summer has the family scattered all around. With Molly still on her way back from the Pacific Northwest with her grandparents, and Claire back in town, it was a me & Claire night.
With Claire heading off to college in August, I wanted to do something fun and new with our rare one-on-one evening.
And then a big stroke of luck came our way: I got off work early for Independence Day. 🇺🇸 Our fun evening had become the rarest of great things – a fun weekday afternoon! We’re talking Ferris Bueller vibes here.
After a two-minute scan of the brain, I realized we weren’t gong to make it to a Cubs game or a downtown parade today, but we did need to take the opportunity to jump on one of the great museums around town, with their weird and pesky and mostly weekday hours.
Claire and I had a great time, saw the famed Austin, and explored the gallery for like 90 minutes. This was long enough to take it in but not dull the senses. We discovered some amazing artists like Alfredo Jaar and Mequitta Ahuja.
One the way home in hot summer traffic, Claire suggested we drop by JuiceLand to get acai bowls and skip dinner. Perfect thinking.
It’s always fun when a tedious in-office work day turns into a fun downtown excursion with your kiddo in her last summer at home as a “kid”. 🙏
The official school photos at Claire’s school were surprisingly well done and artsy! Here’s the one I got to keep from Claire. She gave it to me because it had a distinctly Wes Anderson vibe, circa The Royal Tenenbaums. ☺️
Molly always knows how to make a fun day happen. She’s been on me for a while to go to San Marcos and actually swim in the river we have driven by many times on the way to the best Kerby Lane Cafe. “We should swim in that river.,” we always say. 😉
And with a warm and sunny weekend finally upon us, we made it happen today. 🙌
We put in downstream from Sewell Park and slowly inched our way into the frigid spring-fed water while discussing our common dislike of frigid cold water.
But we persisted until the clear green water (yes, it’s clean and green) became downright refreshing. And the wild rice grass in the water all around us became not that weird any more. “I wonder how many people have been lost to the grass,” I joked.
After a few minutes of wading and adjusting, we got out of this cool flow and made our way up to the actual Sewell Park proper and put in again. This time it felt even better, swimming upstream against the current a bit so we could float back downstream in a relaxed way. 🛟
And then we got out and scouted the park a bit more. I suggested that next time we put in up the river and float all the way through the park. It would be like a lazy river at a resort. But we’re done for the day (right?), because Molly seemed tired.
But Molly said, “No. Let’s do it now.”
And so we wound our way down the cool, narrow river and back down to where we started. It was beautiful and refreshing. 🙌
We wrapped up the day with ice cream a short walk away in downtown San Marcos. Nothing says summer like ice cream in a wet swimsuit (and a cowboy hat in my case).
It was pretty damn close to a perfect way to kick off the summer. Btw Claire passed up the trip and understandably chose to rest back at home after her graduation and festivities yesterday. She can suit herself – she’s an adult now. Save all the fun for us kids. 😉
Claire officially graduated high school today! And she did it with “flying colors” 🎓, as she would say to be silly.
Claire was surrounded by her extended family (her sister, her mom, her grandparents, plus her uncle Tim by video, and oh yeah, me) and given a loving and entertaining graduation ceremony from her school at the Ladybird Auditorium on the UT campus. 🙌
I hope to post a link to the hilarious “cold open” student film that played at the beginning of the ceremony.
We dined at Cipollina, which Claire describes as, “more of a West Austin bistro,” 😆 and then we sent her on her way.
Just kidding, she’s here ’til college starts in August.
I told her I think we should continue to be in each other’s lives even after she goes to college, and I will always consider her like family. (This is our running joke 😉).
McG Kids 