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.
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.
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”. 🙏
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 😉).
It took a bit of time, patience, and finger pain, but Molly stuck with it. By the time the rice crispy treats were cooled and ready to cut, she knew how to play a C-chord!
Amazing. I thought this would take a few days or weeks, especially since Molly has pretty small fingers at this point in the game.
I was so proud of her. And I had to play her a scene from the movie Flora and Son where the main character first learns the C-chord, and her guitar teacher gives the best speech about it before just jumping into the G-chord.
You are now the proud owner of C, alright?
You didn’t own that five minutes ago. You’re rich. You own something Elvis owned. You own something new, and nobody can take it away from you. This is a gift you can take to the grave and use it whenever you want.
And in the right context, it can speak directly to your heart in ways we don’t even understand. More than thoughts, more than words, more than ideas. Just a chord hanging in there in the air… C.
Damn, I love that scene, and Molly seemed to like it too.
I told Molly she should look up G, the next chord in the song. When I got back from checking email, she showed me her G-chord, and it looks pretty good. 🤯
Claire is a huge fan of Mitski, and so am I. Claire and I had been trying to see Mitski live for a couple of years, but last time she was nearby, in Houston, we noticed too late and the aftermarket tickets were like $700. Ouch; that’s almost Taylor Swift levels.
The only problem was that Mitski was not playing in Austin. Or anywhere in Texas. Or within like 1000 miles of us. 🤷🏻♂️ We puzzled at how Mitski could miss our whole big state. Does she hate Texas? I mean, she does have a song based in Texas, so what gives?
So I coordinated care with Claire’s mom to get her a Mitski trip for Christmas. The only condition was that Claire could not miss even one day of school.
Some late nights on the problem yielded a good result – we could fly to a Mitski show in Miami, New York, Boston, or LA in January/Febraury, all for less than the $700 (each) that the Houston concert would have cost. Being winter, I chose Miami – duh. 🏝️
I told Claire we had a very early flight out on Saturday morning, but at least it’s direct. Claire asked, “Are we going to have to get up at like 4 am?” And I was like, “Nah, the flight’s at 7:10.” And then I was like, “Oh crap. Yeah, we’re going to have to get up at 4 am.” 🤦🏻♂️
The flight back got us home at midnight the following day, Sunday. Then back to school/work. Yeah, this better be a good concert.
The rest of the trip is sort of a blur, but yes, it was a great concert. Mitski had some amazing theatrical music, some surprising country versions of her songs, and some weird but beautiful dancing.
The icing on the cake was walking around Miami Beach in the warm weather, joking around, talking about deep subjects, napping in our “flophouse” of an Airbnb, having ice cream, coffee, and French toast, watching weirdos and families stroll down Collin Avenue, watching people play beach volleyball, visiting the botanical gardens… it was all a great time with Clairey.
It was really cool to be hanging out with what seemed like – and in fact actually is – an adult friend. I hope we have more fun trips in our future even though she’s all grown up now. 🤘
McG Kids 