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.

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Rainy Summer Days

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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).

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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.

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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.)

A Fun Day in SA

| patmcg

Kit was schedule to run an audit at a hospital in downtown San Antonio on Monday, and she had a nice hotel room right across the street on the Riverwalk, so she invited the rest of the family along to enjoy a quick trip to S.A.  We had lots of fun for a one-day trip, mostly exploring the Riverwalk, swimming, and eating.  The girls did not want to leave on Monday morning after a final swim at the hotel, but I had to get back to work in the afternoon to catch up with the team on the happenings at Apple’s 2015 developer conference (WWDC).

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