claire

A Sort of ATL Homecoming

| patmcg

“Claire was born in Atlanta, but she’s never been there.” At least that’s what I tell people.

Okay, Claire (and this blog) was born in Atlanta, and she’s hasn’t been back since she’s was two years old. Notice that the Atlanta-tagged post before this was from 2007!

So I decided to take her there for a couple days on her college string break to see her “birth” house and the town that created her.

We had a fun time seeing the old neighborhood, which Claire has no memory of but enjoyed. It wasn’t quite what she expected Atlanta to be like, which is what we thought when we moved there.

We also got to take in some movie sights, most especially the real site of the fiction and creepy AF Hawkins National Laboratory from Stranger Things.

After seeing the sights in Atlanta, I wanted to take her somewhere new for both of us. My dad had always said that Helen, Georgia was one of the prettiest places he had ever seen. So we ventured an hour north of the city and explored the Bavarian-style Disneyland-esque town as a little day trip.

It was a fun couple days with Claire in her lovely home state, although I think she still considers herself a Texan. 😉

San Antonio Drop-in

| patmcg

Molly and I made a day trip to San Antonio to visit Claire at college. We picked up Claire and hit two classic San Antonio destinations: the San Antonio Zoo and Mi Tierra Cafe (y Panadaeria).

I personally felt like a kid again at the zoo as we admired at the giant hippos, zebras, and Komodo dragons. And we enjoyed a late, hearty lunch at Mi Tierra, where the food and the vibe were pure Tex Mex bliss.

It was a fun day and great to have both kids together for a while. 😊

Claire the Formula 1 Driver 🏎️

| patmcg

Last Christmas, I took the kids on a ride around the Formula 1 track at the Circuit of the Americas just on a whim. It was fun like any holiday outing such Trail of Lights, Mozarts Festival of Lights, or whatever.

In the year since, Claire has become a big Formula 1 fan, along with her friends. Heck, she even got me interested in reading a book (!) to learning more about the sport.

So this year, I decided to put Claire behind the wheel in her Prius 😆. We invited her F1 friends along, and Molly, a casual F1 fan, squeezed in too.

This turned out to be the most fun experience we’ve all had together in a long time. I’ll say no more and let the video speak for itself. 👌 (Also on Instagram.)

Off she goes 👍🥲

| patmcg

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. 👩‍🎓

The way the Olivia Rodrigo cookie Crumbl’s

| patmcg

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.

Down the Clown over the years 🤡

| patmcg

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.

So here they are. You’re welcome, kids.

Three generations and new friends in DC

| patmcg

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.

Afternoon at the Blanton

| patmcg

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.

So we met at the Blanton Museum of Art.

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”. 🙏