Another fun thing to do when the weather is cold is to go to the music store. Molly loved the kids-sized drums and the tiny pink guitar, while Claire was into the keyboards. Molly wants the drums for Christmas, but she’ll have to settle for using my less-fun electronic drums set.
Molly seems to enjoy multitasking, including reading while swinging at West Austin Park. Not bad for a first grader!
We made jack-o-lanterns for Halloween out by my pool this year, for lack of room inside. The girls did a great job focusing and making quality scary pumpkins.
Almost every weekend this summer, the girls andI have gone to our favorite hangout: Barking Springs. A cold, rocky, slippery, green water paradise downstream from Baron Springs pool, this shallow swimming spot is a favorite for dogs and all kinds of people. We walk over there and join the families, dog owners, slackers, fitness nuts, teenagers, and people on dates for an afternoon of splashing and floating in the water, and trying not to hurt ourselves or drown. We had a 100% success rate this year on not drowning, but we did see a couple of other people almost drown, including a toddler in a floaty that got away from her parents, so that was a disturbing lesson to see in person. Within five seconds on trouble, about a dozen people were scrambling to help the bobbing toddler, and they got her out safely. One of the great things about Barton Springs is that everyone is nice and in a good mood. You just can’t help it there!
The we run things is to go to the flat cement part on the west side of the river and wade into the current coming from the waterfall. We float downstream for a while and do it again, trying not to trip and kill ourselves in the process of getting out of the river. Sometimes we invite a friend of Claire’s to come along, which makes it even more fun. Managing three kids at Barking Springs is not easy, but it does make the day more fun.
On the walk home, we always stop by Sno Beach, a snow cone stand that makes the best snow cones in town. It makes for the perfect summer day.
Molly is interested in biking and doing pretty well with the training wheels. We’ve been going to the Town Lake trail and letting Molly ride her bike while Claire and I walk. Claire has more or less given up on biking for now. I’m waiting for some sort of peer pressure to kick in and inspire her, but she may be driving before she can bike!
I’m trying to get the girls more interested in sports. We play a little basketball, but the girls can’t even throw the ball all the way up to the hoop, so it’s not that fun. They don’t really enjoy soccer. But one sport that is “taking” at least a little is baseball, or wiffle ball. Claire loves to bat! And she’s getting better at throwing too. Catching is a big challenge, right now, though. Still, it’s a start. Molly tends to enjoy the throwing and catching. Together, these girls make a pretty good baseball player!
Last year’s trip to Schlitterbahn as a family of four was a little tricky since Molly and Kit couldn’t swim. Claire and I swam around having fun while Kit basically babysat Molly in the kiddie pools.
So this year, we planned a Schlitterbahn trip with just Claire and a friend and me. Kit and Molly had their own special day at Donut and Taco Palace, followed by puzzles at home, then dinosaur bone digging at the Austin Nature and Science Center, and finally watching the Shaun the Sheep Movie at the theater.
Unfortunately, Claire’s chosen friend, Nadia, broke her arm a couple of days before the trip to Schlitterbahn. With such short notice, it was hard to get a replacement friend, so it was just Claire and me. Claire loved Kristal River and the Torrent, both circle “river” types of rides, which we did at least 20 times. We spent the whole day at Schlitterbahn, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.
It was a day of many unexpected free things too. At the Schlitterbahn ticket gate, a lady randomly gave me a free ticket that she didn’t need, worth about $60. A guy we shared a picnic table with gave us some free drinks from his cooler. We got a free tote from the Schlitterbahn locker guy. And P. Terry’s gave us a free milkshake that they had extra.
We met up with Kit and Molly at home around 6:30 and traded stories before getting the kids showered and off to bed after a full blown day of fun!
This time of year is challenging for child care. Claire and Molly are still on summer break, but our summer nanny is done for the summer and back at college. So the kids are left with “random nannies” from a service plus our reliable afternoon nanny, Sarah. We had two morning-of nanny cancellations this week to make things even more complicated.
This week’s nannies were Nicole, Kristen, Ashley, Mayli, and Sarah.
Claire and Molly don’t seem to mind having a different person coming to take care of them every day. My hat is off to them for their openness and adaptability.
here are some pics from our bi-annual trip to Anacortes, Washington to sail with Kit’s parents aboard the Molly Claire. This year they planned a special trip for us to Victoria, Canada, which was a fun and beautiful destination. This was both girls’ first international trip. The biggest perk of Candid? Kinder Surprise eggs are legally available unlike back home.
McG Kids 