McG Kids

This weblog tracks my kids’ early years. Each entry is a snapshot from their childhood.

Please pardon any type-o’s, misstatements, or factual irregularities. This blog is written by an often dazed dad, normally after 11 pm when he should really be in bed if he had any sense. Even the basic quick edit is not a regular practice here.

Fire and Ice in Houston

| patmcg

We made a quick trip to Houston this weekend to see my Dad for his birthday.  Kit stayed home to study for some big doctor test coming up in August.  We were in Houston for one full day and a morning.

Highlights included ice skating at Memorial City Mall, Molly’s first time to skate.  It took about 30 minutes for Molly to make her way around the edge of the skating rink while she held to the side on for dear life.  On Claire’s turn, she didn’t fare much better.  Both girls really liked the American Girl store across the hall from the skating rink.

Also, there were hours of swimming in the townhouse pool, featuring the big deep end and lots of sunshine (and lots of sunscreen).

We had chocolate pie and James Coney Island for my dad’s birthday.  He and my mom went to the Astro’s game while the girls and I headed back to Austin.

Before we left, I managed to do a quick baseball home run session with Eric in the blazing sun at our old junior high.  Eric’s five-year-old son, Luke, took a few solid swings but didn’t connect for a homer.  When Eric and I were batting, Luke was in the dugout, safe from the flying hardballs.  But we did have a couple of game delays when Luke yelled “Firefly!” and ran out into the field to chase a firefly.  What a great little kid moment, even if it was someone else’s little kid.

Mom’s Best Friends

| patmcg
"What?"
“What?”

“Is she another one of Mom’s friends?”

That was Molly’s question about the babysitter scheduled for tomorrow.

With our summer nanny, Anna, out sick or on vacation for most of this week, we’ve had to hire random backup sitters from a service.  This was our fouth different sitter in as many days.

Molly’s question puzzled us all for a minute.  Why would Molly think all of these sitters were Kit’s friends?

Then Kit figured it out.  Mom’s Best Friend is the sitter service that we have been using to get quick sitters like this.  Molly heard us saying something like a “A Mom’s Best Friend sitter is coming tomorrow” and came to the very reasonable conclusion that all these sitters were her Mom’s best friends.  It really makes perfect sense.  But her Mom sure does seem to have a lot of BFF’s.

Fourth of Juliowa

| patmcg

We made it up to Iowa for a Fourth Of July family reunion (Kit’s mom’s side) this year.  This trip was Molly’s first to Iowa and her first time to meet most of the Iowa side of the family.

The girls had a blast.  They met their first-cousin-once-removed, Jayvon, who was a boy but was close to Claire’s age and was lots of fun.  He and Claire really hit it off and spent lots of time playing tennis, basketball, and just goofing off during the boring family farm meeting at the hotel.  Molly tagged along some with them too.  I keept an eye on them, but Claire didn’t want me to hover too close.

The whole family got to ride in the (locally) famous Yale, Iowa 4th of July parade, which really was a heck of a parade for a tiny little farm town.  We set off daytime fireworks on the family farm.  We spent hours in the hotel’s indoor pool.  Molly was the lucky recipient of a swimming noodle with a head and tail.  We named it Hydra, and she spent hours riding it around the pool.  Hydra got silly and mad and tired.  I spent 95% of my attention making sure Molly didn’t drown herself, so I didn’t get to play much with Claire in the pool.  Luckily, Claire got to play with Jayvon and his dad, Scott, who had some really good ways to splash and toss the kids.

Here are some photos of the fun and patriotic weekend.

Minka

| patmcg
Minka
Minka

Over dinner, when Kit is not yet home from the hospital, Claire and I often find ourselves playing different fictional characters that we just make up as we eat.  Molly does not really join in, but she does seem to enjoy the amateur performance.

Our favorite characters recently are a father (me) with a heavy Russian accent.  I am simply known as “Papa”.  I speak of my time back in fatherland Russia, where “if you want to eat, you do not go to grocery store.  No.  You chase down dinner and eat it.  Or maybe if you’re not so fast, it eat you.”  I have no idea where this comes from.

I tend to carry on about dinner.  “I work and work and make good dinner, and you turn up nose!”

Cubbie
Cubbie

Claire is Minka.   Minka is my daughter, but she is not Russian.  By her accent, she seems to be from South America or maybe Southern Asia.  She grew up in America and is spoiled by things like grocery stores and chicken nuggets.  Something is not quite right with Minka, who is afraid of televisions, iPads, or really anything electronic.  And she gets confused by forks and spoons.

Minka loves her dog, Cubbie (Muffin).  I adopted Cubbie back in the fatherland, where she helped me survive on the tundra by hunting down dinner with me every night.  Cubbie joined me on my trek to America and is always kind and patient with Minka.

Molly is Minka’s little sister.  We tried to include Molly in this story, but she does not want to join in.  We tried to name her Pepe, but she insisted that she is Molly.  Molly is “normal American kid who loves chicken nuggets and television”.

We’re not sure what happened to Minka’s mom.  She may be back in Russia fighting her way through the frozen tundra.  Or maybe she’s stuck at the hospital.  We’re not sure which is worse.

Inside Can be Fun Too

| patmcg

What have Claire and Molly been doing with all their free time now that they’re out of school for the summer?  Besides playing in the rain, having friends over, swimming, and watching Jessie, here are a few pics of their indoor activities so far this summer.

dsa

Rainy Summer Days

| patmcg

With all the rain we’ve been having lately, the backyard has turned into a water park for the girls.  Molly, in particular, loves going outside to play, especially when it is raining.  She likes when it is raining really hard best of all.  She and Claire will spend hours at a time out there just splashing around and playing with their toys.

They even set up a water park for their My Little Pony toys.  The park is inspired by Schlitterbahn and features a giant water slide with a big pool at the end of it.  There is also a “natural pond”, which is basically a big puddle.  And the Swamp of Doom in the muddy grass area.  Claire made a map of the park and even added a snack stand for refreshments (it’s alternately a smoothie place, a fish taco place, or Benny’s Fish ‘n’ Chips).

dsa

Scholz Garten

| patmcg

Here are some pics of the girls having fun on the stage at Scholz Garten, a beer garden in downtown Austin founded in 1866.  As we waited for our food, Claire and Molly ran up on stage and put together a show for the smattering of customers in the outdoor patio this Saturday afternoon.  The German-themed mural must have inspired them.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This year, we’re going to sort of miss Father’s Day since Kit is on call and can’t really do anything fun; she could be called away to the hospital at any minute.  So as an early Father’s Day, I got to choose something to do, and I picked Scholz.  I’m not a big fan of beer, but I am a fan of 150-year-old beer gardens.  And it turns out they have some great beer and root beer on tap, good bar grub, and cute little girls running around on the stage.

After lunch/dinner, we went home and watched the original Star Wars to top off my pre- Father’s Day.  (Molly hated Star Wars, and Claire seemed to tolerate it.)