Family

Family Campout – Buescher State Park

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

The view from our cabin porch

The weather in Central Texas right now is perfect, so what better time than now to go camping.

Packed the family in the car and off we went to Buescher State Park in Smithville, Texas. We’ve been there before, on Cub Scout campouts, and due to that we knew we liked what the park had to offer. The scenery is beautiful, there’s a lake for fishing, and you can rent canoes too. Those were the two big things we wanted to do: canoe and fish.

Part of the cabin interior

The difference this time was no tent camping. The park has a few “mini-cabins”, and Wife wanted to give them a try. You see, Wife has little interest in camping, in the “roughing it” sense of the word. She loves being outdoors, she loves doing these sorts of things, but freezing to death on the cold, hard ground is not her idea of me. Me on the other hand, I grew up on a steady diet of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, so backpacking has fine appeal to me. I’d prefer to travel light, minimal stuff, minimal hassle. Just get out and enjoy and only bring what you need to get by. The sort of camping we just did? That’s a pain to me. So much gear the car is overflowing, lots to pack up, drive there, unpack, set up, then eventually you have to pack it all back up, drive it back home, unpack it all, clean it, stow it… oye! You spend more time dealing with the stuff than you did enjoying using it! Nevertheless, I’ll admit there’s something nice about this style of camping because sometimes comfort is good.

The children, practicing casting.

The mini-cabins were actually pretty neat. We only booked a single night for two reasons. First, I wasn’t sure if the kids would handle 3 days (I have no concerns about that now). Second, we had no idea what these cabins would be like. We’ve had some scary hotel experiences, thus due to that we were reserved about these cabins. So the plan was to try it once; if it was terrible, we didn’t invest a lot, but if it was good then we’d leave wanting more and would go back someday in the future.

The cabin is a small single room. Two sets of bunk beds, table and chairs for 4, mini-fridge, some counter space, microwave, heat/AC unit, lighting, and of course it’s shelter from the elements. I was surprised at how well it kept the temperature comfortable. There’s also a nice deck that wraps around, large windows, and a fantastic view. Really, they’re great and certainly I have no problems using a cabin again in the future.

Buescher State Park Lake

So we got there, unpacked, set things up. Had to make it clear to the kids that it was important to get all the necessary work done first because there’d be no way we’d want to do it later. So with a bit of a grumble, the kids pitched in and we got things set up in short order. I can understand tho… they were excited and wanted to get to fishing!

Oldest child, the dedicated fisherman.

Off to the lake we went. The weather was so nice, we walked over to the boat ramp area. Honestly, I didn’t expect we’d catch anything at this time of day, but that’s alright. There’s a difference between “fishing” and “catching” and while it’s a lot of fun to catch, sometimes the best fishing involves never catching a thing. So it’s good for the kids to learn the difference, and really the only way to learn it is to go fishing a lot.

We sat out for a while. I worked on teaching Oldest and Daughter how to tie some important knots, like the Trilene knot. How to get things rigged up, and helping them choose where they’d want to fish. Of course, the kids would cast, wait about 5 minutes, then want to reel it in and try again. That’s OK. I do understand why they want to do this, but I just repeat to them that if they want to catch a fish they have to keep the hook and the bait in the water. If the hook it out of the water, no way you’ll catch a fish; if it’s in the water, you might catch one. They understand, but still, I remember what it was like when I was a kid, so I didn’t give them too much grief. They’ll come to understand it all… just keep taking them fishing.

Oldest, patiently fishing. My favorite picture.

Oldest understands tho. He was quite the dedicated fisherman on this outing, and I’m proud of him for that. He was very patient and took it very seriously.

While out and about, we saw lots of animals. While walking to the lake, a coyote actually ran across our path about 25 yards ahead of us. It was a little odd to see a yote at that time of day, but there we go. Of course, lots of birds, lizards, fish, turtles. Saw some ducks, an egret or two, some rabbits, deer (later at night). The only thing that really bothered us? Cottonmouths. We saw numerous cottonmouths swimming in the lake, close to shore. Just leave them alone, chances are they could care less about us, and such was the case. Nevertheless, I was upset at myself for not packing my .38 with snake loads.

Yes, I went down the slide!

After an unsuccessful round of afternoon fishing, we headed back to the cabin to recharge. Some snacks, a little air-conditioning. We went over to the playground to let the kids play on the playscape. That lasted about 30 minutes. There was no question we were all tired and just had little interest in doing much of anything. So we drove back to our campsite. We tried to take the scenic detour down Park Road 1C to Bastrop State Park, but we were all just too pooped… especially Wife and myself. So we turned around, went back to the cabin. Wife took a nap. I started cooking dinner. Daughter and Youngest goofed off in the cabin, and Oldest went down to the water just below our cabin, threw some poles in the water, and waited. No bites, but that boy has patience.

Had a wonderful dinner of fajitas, despite forgetting to bring any salsa. Doh! As the sun was setting, it cooled off and we just enjoyed the weather, the stars, and listening to all the critters singing their night songs. You could tell it had been a good, long, and tiring day… we were all cranky and short with each other. 🙂  But, we all crawled into the bunk beds and settled in for a good sleep.

Morning over the lake. Can you find the mother duck and her babies?

I woke up the next morning about 5:30 AM. I know the routine. First thing after waking (and visiting a local tree) the first man up needs to get the water boiling and the coffee brewing. So of course, that was done. I just sat on the porch, looking at the lake in the moonlight, waiting for the sun to come up. Nice, peaceful.

Eventually the sun peeked just enough over the sky to light my way down to the water’s edge, so down I went with 2 fishing poles and a box of worms. Put the worms on the hook, put the poles in the water, and just waited. Saw numerous things, the neatest of which was hearing a big splash about 20 yards to my right. I look over and about 8 to 10 ducklings had hit the water. I saw Momma Duck too, and while I can’t be 100% positive on the identification, her silhouette was that of a wood duck. Later when we left the park and were checking out, there were some serious bird watchers also checking out of the park. We spoke to them briefly and they confirmed wood ducks live on this lake, and they were excited to hear about the ducklings. But back to fishing…. I had numerous nibbles. Something kept pecking at and stealing my worms. While I started playing something on the end of one rod, the other rod seriously took. Dang it. 🙂  Well, the one rod seemed to die down so I put it down, picked up the other and hauled in my catch. It was a small catfish! Had a stout body but not very long (kinda odd). Wasn’t worth keeping, but I took a picture and let him go. A little while later, more activity on the first rod. So I played the critter some more and eventually he took it. However, something felt different on the end of the line. Sure enough…. it was a fair-sized turtle. Oldest zipped down to help me. He held the turtle while I removed the hook, and gave Oldest quite a thrash and kick when the hook was removed. Given where I kept fishing with that first pole, while my first thought was pan fish pecking and bait stealing, I now am pretty sure it was the turtle the whole time.

Look Ma! I caught a fish!

Speaking of turtles, later that morning Oldest noticed a catfish had floated belly up. He thought it was the catfish I caught. A couple of minutes later, a turtle swam up to it and started eating. We then realized it was another catfish, no idea how long he’d been dead. A second turtle swam up and started to eat but the first turtle didn’t want to share. 🙂  He grabbed the catfish and started swimming hard and fast in the other direction taking the fish with him. Quite funny to see.

All the worms were used, so we called it a morning and came up for breakfast. What was on the menu? Why, eggs-in-a-bag, of course! The kids love it, and it’s simple camping food. Couple that with a little Spam on the side, and it makes for happy children. 🙂

Unfortunately, it was time to go… or at least, to check out of the cabin. So we packed up, cleaned up, reminded the kids to leave the place cleaner than we found it. Loaded up the car and headed to the park office to return the key. Our original plan was to go canoeing. Unfortunately, the canoes were being taken out for maintenance. Bummer! We were all looking forward that. Alas… it was not meant to be. So we decided to go ahead and head home.

But as we were pulling out, Wife had the idea to head into Smithville just to see what it was like. Smithville is a small town, probably best known as the town where they made the movie, Hope Floats. We drove up and down the main streets, seeing your typical small-town things. We figured that would be the end of it but no….

We saw a giant gingerbread man!

Run run, as fast as you can!

Apparently a few years ago the city decided to set the world’s record for the largest gingerbread man. Apparently they did succeed! And the specially made cookie sheet was later painted and erected in the town. We took a look at it, took pictures with it, visited the little train museum there… and that was a hoot.

For you see, while the museum may have been about trains, what caught the children’s eye? Why, this strange contraption that sorta looked like a computer, but there was no screen… just a keyboard.

A typewriter.

And an older kind, with the little “arms” that would fly up to strike the ribbon. Quite novel for the children, and I got to explain and show them how, where, and why the QWERTY layout came to be.

Nifty little history lesson. 🙂

After that, we piled back in the car, drove home, unpacked, and showered.

Quite a time, quite a couple of days. Yes we wish it could have lasted longer, but we’re thankful for what we got. The old expression is to always leave ’em wanting more, so that we did.

How To Train Your Dragon

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

I’m not really high on Dreamworks’ “animated children’s movies” because well… they’ve sucked and have a pretty poor track record.

My rule is simple. When you see the commercials/trailers for the movie, are they pitching the movie and the story? or do they work on promoting the “star power” of the “voice actors”? Pixar? They don’t advertise that so-and-so does the voices, even if they’re not really good voice actors and are just doing their normal voices. Pixar knows story is king, and that shows in their movies.

But with Dragons, Dreamworks well…. now that I see WHO the people are that did the voices well, it’s not like it was massive star power there anyways. But that’s just fine! There was less focus on the glitz and more focus on making a good movie.

And good it was.

Sure it was a story you’ve heard/seen a thousand times. There’s really nothing new to the base story. It’s the telling that changes, and I think they told a good story. I found the movie most enjoyable. Comedy, action, suspense, just a hint of innocent romance, some emotional heart-tugging moments. Sure you know how things are going to go (tho I thought the end um…. thing that happened to Hiccup at the end of the movie, that was a cute touch), sure you know “happily ever after”. But still, I enjoyed myself.

Daughter approves as well.

Oldest and Youngest… well… fisticuffs in the morning meant no movie for them in the afternoon. *sigh*

Anyway, an enjoyable movie. I’m sure it means a “Dragson 2” is already brewing… not sure it should be done… sometimes I think it’s good to just let good things stay as they are, we don’t need to milk it to death. But you know how it is… there’s money to be made and ideas to run into the ground. 🙂

Small win for APD

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Going to give some kudos to Austin Police Department here. It’s a small thing, but it’s little things like this that add up.

As frequent readers know, we have a lot of ducks that hang out at our house.

Well, about 45 minutes ago my kids saw some random Rottweiler trotting across our lawn. I was called to come see, and so I went and saw. He was perked up, looking at something. My guess? The ducks, but a few houses down and out of sight.

I go back to work.

A minute or so later I hear my kids screaming in terror. The Rot was attacking a duck.

Granted my kids understand nature and life, but they are very fond of the ducks… so injury to these ducks is like injuring a member of the family.

I tear down the stairs and run outside looking for the Rot. He was behind/under a truck… apparently it was just some guy driving through and he saw things too and tried to do something about it (I guess… I really didn’t know, my only exchange with him was “That your dog?” “No.”). I chased the Rot, shouting and yelling. The Rot broke off his attack and retreated back into a yard in the cul-de-sac. I don’t know what happened to the duck, but I did see him waddle off… I don’t know his condition, but it is what it is.

The Rot eventually stopped and laid down. I took out my phone, dialed 911, explained, and they said police will be dispatched. My wife was also on the phone to 311 and they took the animal control call. Yes it’s just attacking a duck but my thinking is 1. it’s a Rot, 2. if he’s showing a penchant for attacking things who knows what else he could attack, 3. no collar so who knows if he’s a pet or feral. Who knows. My brother-in-law has a Rot and she’s a sweetie. I know Rot’s aren’t evil, but there’s no question there’s a legit reason for their reputation. I don’t want some unknown Rot wandering my neighborhood.

About 10 minutes after the call goes in, 2 APD cruisers pull up. We point out the dog, explain things, they drive over to the dog. You could tell there was some joking “you get him, no you get him”. A third cruiser pulls in, and that officer had some leashes in his trunk. A little figuring out of who will do what, tasers at the ready, and the third officer approaches the Rot. He tries calling him over and the dog obediently comes, a little unsure, but obeys. Leashed up, “good dog” petting, and into the back of a cruiser. Some handshakes and thank you’s to the officers, and what’s done is done.

My take

I don’t feel bad about what I did. Granted, as the event wore on it was evident the dog is fairly well-behaved. He’s certainly someone’s pet (tho lacking a collar, but hopefully not a microchip). He did show signs of submissive behavior, but he was also constantly alert. That’s good stuff, when it’s your dog. But again, I have no idea about this dog. He demonstrated attacking behavior, and well… I just can’t allow some unknown and potentially dangerous dog to be trotting around my neighborhood with other pets, small children, and people around. No apologies for what I did.

APD took about 10 minutes to show up, and my guess is they were there that “quickly” due to the fact the dog was seen attacking. I can’t fault them… it’s not like there was a cop right here, they did have to drive to get here, so 10 minutes is reasonable. But as with all things, it shows what response time can be.

I did have my gun on me. It shows that situations can happen suddenly and you have to run with what you have. There was no time to run and get my gun or get anything… I ran outside barefoot. If the dog was a problem, yes I had no problem shooting it. I wanted to avoid that at all costs of course, but if someone’s life was in danger (because again, I knew nothing of the dog’s demeanor, other than he was attacking a duck) well… that’s how it goes. While standing off with the dog, I asked my wife for her pepper spray, as that’d be my preference. I had a prior experience with dogs and wishing for OC. I still don’t have OC on me, because I haven’t found something suitable (even tho GT Dist has some decent options).

I do hope the dog has a microchip and can be reunited with his owner… and his owner is a little wiser for the experience so it doesn’t happen again. He was a good looking Rotty, and seemed to be a “good dog”, so I do hope there ends up being a happy ending to this story. But again, dogs are what they are, and I’m not going to take a chance.

APD did well. Took care of things. Thank you to the local Boys in Blue.

Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo

/ hsoi

Yesterday I took my family to the Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo. It’s an annual thing in Austin, but this is the first time we went. I’m so glad we did. Weather was perfect, time was right.

The Kid In Me

I went to county fairs and rodeos all the time when I was a kid. My Dad had to campaign in various counties in Nebraska, and county fairs were good places to meet with the public. So Dad would be there all day pressing the flesh, and we kids would get to run around and enjoy the fair all day. I’ve got lots of fond memories of those times, from all the midway games I’d play, to the rides (I still will not ride The Zipper… not into things that make me throw up), to even the people I’d meet. A lot of the same carnival groups would be at the various county fairs, so I got to see a lot of the same carnies over and over. I got to actually know a couple fairly well because hey… I loved the “pop gun” booth (little pump rifles that shot small corks out the end… you’d shoot the corks at these little wooden stands and when they flipped off the back of the rail you won the prize) and spending so much time at that booth I got to know the lady running it. I also recall that’s how I learned about the band Bad Company; talking with another carnie, he told me to check out their album (their self-titled) and eventually I did and glad I did.

And of course, growing up in Omaha, there was Peony Park.

So with many fond memories in my head, I always wanted to take the kids to some sort of fair. There’s frequently a fair running in town, but I can never find out when they’re here. It’s one of those where I’m driving in town, I see it in the distance, “OH man!” and then we can’t go for some reason. But now we had a plan!

The Joy of Mobile Internet

Of course, I look up the fair online and find out they even have an iPhone app just for the fair! The iPhone app had a few rough edges, but it was pretty useful. I thought the best part was how they used the GPS services on the map to say “here’s where you are, and here’s where you want to go” to help you get around the fairgrounds. Nice!

But the real treat? I found out you could buy a carnival wristband for $20 online, which included the gate entrance fee. Sounded like a winner to me. But when I got there, yes it was an online-only deal. If you bought at the fairgrounds, $7 for adults $4 children to get through the gate, and $25 for the carnival wristband. Man… that online deal is a deal. So I went back to the car, sat down, pulled out my iPhone and purchased online right there in the parking lot. 🙂 That saved some money… or so I thought. It’s only saving money if you’re going to ride a lot of rides. Most rides cost 3 tokens and each token was $1. So you’d need to ride 8 rides or so to make it worth it. Was it worth it? No, because we didn’t ride that many rides (more on that shortly). The thing was, I was under the impression you could only do the carnival if you had a wristband. That is not the case. The wristband is only good for carnival rides, and you can pay tokens for rides as well. So if you’re all about the rides and expect to ride a lot of rides, a wristband can be the way to go. Else, just pay tokens as you go. Live and learn.

The Rides

For me, a big part of a fair are the rides. I did not know what to expect with my kids… would they like these rides? Would they not? The first ride? The Tilt-a-Whirl. That’s one of my favorites. I have many fond memories of riding that at Peony Park with my Dad while growing up. All 4 of us climbed into a car and off we went, tilting and whirling. I saw nothing but smiles on the faces of my kids. We have a winner!

I saw on the other side was a “scrambler”, tho this one was called The Scorcher. We climbed into that one, Youngest and I in one car, and Oldest and Daughter in another. Off it went. This one went a bit faster than I remember them going, so the G-forces were pretty strong. It was fun, we all enjoyed it, but we all also had the same thought: geez… this is getting boring, can you stop now? It just got old because it ran for quite a while. But I was happy the kids enjoyed it…. tho Oldest didn’t like it as much as he would have because well… I told him to sit on the out-side of the car so he had his sister squished into him the whole time. 🙂

Then… the bumper cars.

I’m glad this wasn’t a “modern” bumper cars where everyone was told to just drive in a circle and not run into each other. Yes, I’ve encountered those and what fun are those? The whole fun about this is to bump into each other. Head-on collisions are what makes bumper cars fun. 🙂 Daughter climbed into a car, Oldest into a car, and I took Youngest in a car with me. I gave them a briefing on how they work (e.g. press the pedal down and don’t let go, if you turn the steering wheel all the way around you’ll go in reverse), and off we went.

So while the kids and I were having fun bumping into each other, Wife was standing at the railing taking pictures. And boy, was Wife taking a lot of pictures. She was heavily interested in taking lots of pictures. Why? Because the carnie working the bumper cars was being very friendly with her. Not too friendly, but friendly enough that Wife did her best to be polite yet tried her best to make it clear she was more interested in her big husband than him. Oldest got mad that some other man was trying to hit on his Mom but he saw me laughing and not worried about it… but I can’t argue with my son’s desire to defend his mother. That’s a Good Thing.

Of course, what trip to a fair would be complete if there wasn’t a ride that was a little too much. There was a ride called The Orbiter. Didn’t get a picture of it, but this Wikipedia entry is close. The cars were more enclosed cars and it didn’t go 90º (maybe 45º??). The thing was, when we saw it earlier it seemed somewhat gentle, so Daughter and I went on it. Youngest wanted to go but Oldest didn’t and you couldn’t have single riders, so only Daughter and I went. Well… that was a mistake. The sensation was really weird and the G-forces very strong… because of the angles you were put at, the resulting angle of the G-forces just did not sit well with Daughter and she was most unhappy. I just cradled her to keep her from banging into the car, and eventually the ride ended. Cross that one off the list for the future. Me? I thought the ride was OK… it did mess with my equilibrium a bit (I had “sea legs” for a short while after getting off the ride), but how could I enjoy a ride while my child was hurting? Ah well… it was a good experience no matter how you slice it.

The Food

What can you say? If you can fry it and put it on a stick, it’s carnival food. Oh, and expensive too.

Actually the food was pretty good. Of course fried, greasy, salty, huge portions, and just horrible for you… but no question it was delicious. If it wasn’t so darn expensive we would have eaten more.

The one bummer? I didn’t get a funnel cake. I love funnel cakes. But at $7 a cake? Sorry… my wallet was hurting. I had to pass this time around. *sigh*

Attractions

There were a lot of cool fair attractions.

They had some small bands playing free shows on a back stage. There was a ZZ Top cover band called Cheap Sunglasses that were playing when we arrived. They were actually pretty good! I enjoyed them a whole lot. Later that evening another band was playing… I don’t know who they were, but they were doing a horrible job butchering Bon Jovi’s “Bad Medicine” and I couldn’t stand it.

We wandered through the livestock barn. Lots of cattle and pigs, a few goats and rabbits. Spent a little time watching the judging of a youth cattle show. All I could think to myself was how much tasty beef was out there. Eventually we had to leave as the smell was overwhelming everyone.

Of course, there was a petting zoo with llamas, goats, sheep, some sort of deer… and again, I just kept staring at those deer, finding that kill zone. Now that I think about it, I should have used that as a time to talk kill zones with the kids! I mean, I had a live sample right there and could have walked right up to it and pointed everything out! Missed opportunity.

Concealment, not cover.

There was a cowboy shootout. Not a lot of action, but the comedy was funny with 3 bumbling robbers and eventually the sheriff coming to break up the party. They shot blanks, which were pretty loud so everyone would jump when they shot. I did think it was cool how they ended it tho: having all the “dead” robbers get up to show that no one was really hurt. But they also talked about how they used blanks and that blanks can still be dangerous (they shot an empty soda can pointblank and you got to see it blown apart). Then saying to be thankful for the police so we can live our lives today without us each having to carry around 6-shooters ourselves. Uh huh. 😉

One more thing on the shootout. Those guys had terrible trigger discipline. But I’ll chalk it up to old-time realism because Jeff Cooper wasn’t invented yet. 😉

We missed the “Swine Sprints”, but we did catch Whiplash. Whiplash is a little money dressed up like a cowboy that rides on the back of a dog. The show actually started off with a young man doing roping tricks, which was pretty impressive. Then onto the show. A little money, in a cowboy suit, on the back of… a border collie. That’s important. What was the show? Three sheep were released into the area and Whiplash the monkey cowboy (or is it cowboy monkey?) herded them around. But the reality? The monkey was just the attraction that put the butts in the seats. The real work was the dog, and the dog was on. The moment those sheep were let out of the carrier, the dog was locked onto them. It was so cool to watch how tuned in he was. And the sheep were huddling together, because they knew there was something out there with fangs. And the dog went to work, and the monkey just held on. Wife and I didn’t care about the monkey, just the dog. He was awesome.

Heading Home

So a long afternoon and evening spent at the fair. No, we didn’t get to see any actual rodeo, because that cost a lot more money. Apparently there’s a rodeo in Marble Falls in July and we may go check that out.

But still, we had a good time. Got to see animals, got to see some shows, got to ride rides, got to learn all about carnies, got to eat terrible but delicious food. The kids had a great time, and Wife did too (tho she wishes she had worn her Ariats and not her Luccheses). For me? Reliving some childhood family memories and making some new ones with my own family? All worth it.

To Daddy, from Daughter

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Daughter wrote me a poem last night.

When the clouds become dark,
And when the dog doesn’t bark,
I become very, very sad.
The only way
For me to be gay
is sunshine, a treat, and Dad.

🙂

Note: this poem comes from the innocent and loving heart of my Little Girl. Don’t twist it around (e.g. “gay”).

And… we’re down again

/ hsoi

Just when I thought I’d be getting back in the swing…. 2 are down.

Youngest was ill with something last week but seems to be over it now. Around 3 AM his morning Daughter wakes me up.

“Daddy?”

“Huh… Yes?”

“Tummy….”

and proceeds to throw up on the side of my bed.

Joy.

And now Wife seems to have it.

Oldest and I remain on the hitlist….

Thankfully it just seems to be annoying for a few days, worst at the onset then once you throw up you’re on the road to recovery.

I can’t wait for my turn! 🙂

Something in my eye

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Today has been bittersweet for me.

I took Oldest to the dentist to get braces installed on his teeth. Braces: a rite of passage in modern teenager-life. This milestone has been achieved! Now it will be what? two or so years before they’re removed. I took a picture just before he sat down in the chair. I know when I next see him with clean teeth he’s going to look really different from this picture.

First we had to get a cleaning done. Originally he was to get that done last week but some jackass flew a plane into a building and so the roads were closed and we’d never get through. (Aside: we drove by the building today… that was crazy to see). So we got the cleaning done, then had a couple hour break, then back for the braces. During the break we had lunch then had time to kill. Some weeks ago Wife uncovered a Toys R Us gift card Oldest had received as a gift a couple years ago and still had a fair balance on it. During the break we headed over to a Toys R Us and Oldest bought some LEGO.

While walking through the store I passed the infant section. It brought back memories of infant-times and little inside jokes Wife and I share. And there I was… with Oldest. I don’t feel my age; I feel like a kid in so many ways. I still find it hard to believe I’m a father, that I have 3 kids, and that the first one of those kids came along oh so long ago. It was just yesterday I brought him home from the hospital; cliché to say, I know, but the feeling is genuine. And here I am… with a teenager… my teenager, progressing through one of those teenager milestones by getting braces.

I’m happy to see him grow up. In fact, seeing how he handled himself today? I’m quite proud of him. I can see the man this boy is growing into. But seeing him grow up also makes me sad. Not that I want him to be an infant again, but knowing the day is coming when he’s going to leave the house… and damn, I’m going to miss him something awful.

Alegría

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Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría came to Austin for a 5 night run at the Cedar Park Center.

Last night I took the family to see opening night.

I’ve seen many Cirque shows on TV; Bravo or A&E, I forget which would play the shows and many times run marathons. Wife and I always enjoyed watching them. Of the shows, Alegría was always a favorite. So that it came to town and we could see it live? Awesome.

The kids have never been to any sort of circus, or experienced anything quite like this. We played some promo videos we found online. Daughter of course was excited about it. Youngest wasn’t too sure but did think it’d be neat. Oldest? He made up his mind that he was going to hate it, of course. 🙂  In the weeks since the ticket purchase and leading up to last night, everyone’s respective sentiments towards the show only strengthened. I just encouraged Oldest to go in with an open mind and let it be what it will be; even if he ends up not liking it, he’ll have the experience. I was taken to many events as a child that didn’t appeal to me at the onset and afterwards I knew I’d never do again. However I know my life is a bit richer for the experience. Besides, I’d remind him of all the times he knew he’d hate something and ended up liking it in the end.

And so we went. We decided to have dinner out, and since it was Ash Wednesday seafood was on the menu. I found this little place in Cedar Park called CR Surf & Turf (Yelp listing). Seemed to be decently reviewed and sure enough, the place lived up to the review. It’s a little place, but business was steady and the place was generally 75-90% full the entire time we were there. Service wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t great (e.g. no one ever refilled Wife’s water, or even came by after the food was delivered to ask how things were). Still, the folks were friendly and if you needed anything it was easy enough to ask. The place isn’t too fancy either, but who cares. What’s important is the food and my my my my my…. it was good. We started with a fried calamari. We expected it to be like everyone else does it: little bits of squid, battered and deep fried to a brown, served up in a mound on a plate with cocktail sauce. It was far from that. A light golden batter, meaty cuts of squid, and a fantastic addition of sautéed onions and other things including some sliced fresh jalapeno (sorry, I can’t remember it all). But my my it was delicious, and so different from the norm. Just fantastic. Everyone had their different plates of food and it was all done very well. The fish was delicious, cooked just right. Even scallops, which are so easy to screw up, were done right. Anything fried (e.g. Oldest had a plate of fried stuff) was a very light batter, crunchy, and didn’t feel heavy. I had grilled asparagus as a side, and it was cooked just right… nothing overdone or underdone. And everything came to our table hot… like freshly cooked hot. Just awesome. I’m telling you folks… this was some really good stuff. If the place wasn’t so far of a drive away I think it’d be a regular place for us. Highly recommended. But anyway…. this isn’t a food blog, but the place was so good I had to give them some credit.

So we get to the Cedar Park Center, find our seats. I always try to get good seats for things and this was no exception. Section 122, row C. It gave us a great view of the entire stage, and comfortable viewing as well (no craning your neck to see everything). One thing I’ll repeat about the Cedar Park Center is the place is tiny and the seats are cramped, but there really aren’t any “bad seats”… even the cheap nosebleeds aren’t going to be terrible. I’d say the only “bad seats” would be the ones directly to the left and right of the stage, since you’d be obscured at times (e.g. the large net at the end for the Aerial High Bar performance).

What can I say about the show other than it was well-executed. I’ve seen the show numerous times on TV, but seeing it live was wonderful. The talent, the skill, the ability of the performers is amazing to watch. The kids were certainly wow’d by a lot of things. Of course, I think for them the best part was watching the clowns. I can’t say I blame them… the clown act was updated a bit and was hilarious, especially the use of some running gags. I know Oldest liked the Fire-Knife Dance too.

Speaking of Oldest… at intermission he comes up to me:

“Dad… I’m going to have to eat my words.” And he gives a slight smile.

Yeah I know, Son. I heard you laughing. I saw you hold your breath during some of those death-defying feats. I saw your attention totally captured. It’s all good. 🙂

Giving Obama credit where he’s due

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Over at The Daily Kos there’s an article about President Obama and how he conducts his day:

…last month, when Mr. Obama convened Congressional Democratic leaders at the White House for a marathon negotiating session, another priority intervened.

His 11-year-old daughter, Malia, had a band recital.

Thus did the president of the United States ditch his own health care talks — temporarily, at least — to slip off to Sidwell Friends School for a few hours to listen to Malia play the flute. When the recital was over, he returned to the White House, and everybody went back to work.

I think that’s most commendable of him. He refuses to miss things important to his children. Because while to you and me he’s Mr. President, to Malia he’s Dad.

The article continues:

…He knocks off work at 6 p.m. each evening to have dinner with his family, and has given his schedulers strict instructions that, if he must have night-time activities, they are to take place after 8 p.m. That includes matters of war; in November, as the commander in chief wrestled with sending more troops to Afghanistan, he called an 8 p.m. meeting of his national security team, in deference to his role as father in chief.

He has dinner with his family each night, and then no doubt some time to help his children with schoolwork or just read them a bedtime story and tuck them into bed and kiss them goodnight. Good Daddy.

Of course, some people have a problem with this:

“People elect you not to be a good family man, they elect you to fix their problems, and that’s the cold-hearted reality of it,” said John Feehery, a Republican political strategist. “And all those folks on the Hill, they’ve left all their families at home; they don’t have the luxury of skipping back home in the middle of the meeting to catch their daughter’s recital.”…

John Feehery… go fuck yourself. No we didn’t elect him to be a good family man, but for all the talk of how the President should a good role model why are you and others giving him grief for trying to be a good husband and father? Barack Obama is obviously a man unwilling to sacrifice his family, and let me tell you his job is one that could easily destroy his family. He holds his family in high regard and wants to be there for his wife and children. All those folks on the Hill that left their families at home? They have the choice as to where to spend their time, and they’re choosing to not spend it with their family. That’s their problem and their mistake to make. That’s their loss that they’ll never get back.

You see… this hits home for me, very personally. What I’m about to say some people will probably wish I didn’t air so publicly, but it’s the way things were and you can’t escape it. Better to learn and grow from the mistake so as to not repeat it.

My father has been involved in politics the majority of his life and almost the whole of mine. During my growing-up years my father was a member of the US House of Representatives. He was doing a job he wanted and loved. My father was good at it and one of the few politicians I consider a true public servant. Trouble was, the nature of the job coupled with my father’s passion for it left me mostly without a father while I grew up. Much of the year he had to be back in his home district to do work. When he was in town, many days he’d be up and out the door before I woke up and wouldn’t be home until after I had gone to bed. I didn’t get to see my Dad much while growing up. This isn’t to say he didn’t want to spend time with me or the rest of the family. We would make efforts to do things, for example, I’ll never forget those 3 weeks touring Europe when I was 16 years old; but usually they were big things like trips. While those were nice, it’s those little day to day things that end and add up to mattering more.

I recall being in grade school, probably 4th or 5th grade. It was a special week at school because parents were invited to come have lunch with their children at school. Each class or grade rotated as to the day for the parents to come, and my older sister’s day was the day before mine. I was sitting at the lunch table with my friends when my parents came over to the table. Obviously they had just finished having lunch with my older sister and were coming to say hello to me. When my friends caught sight of my Dad they erupted in hails of “Hi Mr. Daub!” “Hey, Mr. Daub!”… just a chorus of my friends acknowledging my Dad. It was such a proud moment for me, to see my friends regarding MY Dad in such esteem. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow when they’d have lunch with me. Earlier that week I had made placemats as part of the class project, and I was all ready to go.

Then tomorrow came. I got my lunch and sat at the table. I put one placemat to my left and one to my right. And I waited for Mom and Dad to arrive. And I waited. And I waited. Other parents were coming in and the chairs were filling up. I remember one Mother asking if the seat next to me was taken. It broke my heart to say “no” and let her take the seat instead of my parent. Lunch ended, and my parents never showed. I was devastated.

Dad was up on The Hill.

It may seem like a small thing, but it’s those little things that add up to a child. Then next thing you know, your child is an adult and living their own life. That whole “cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon” thing.

I used to hold it against my Dad for the fact he was never around when I was growing up. Of course I no longer do. As an adult with a job and family and responsibilities and so on, I know how it can be and understand. Nevertheless, we are ultimately the ones in control of how we spend our time and lives, and we must realize what is most important to us because time will march on and moments will pass that we’ll never get back. Malia doesn’t really care about health care talks, but she does care that her Dad was there to see and hear her play her flute. To her, that matters more than anything. Mr. Obama knows this, and he’s obviously unwilling to let his daughter down.

My father will never get back the lost time with me as a child. I will never get back the lost time with my father. It’s why when I became a father myself I decided to not repeat my father’s mistake. I swore I’d do all I could for my children, to be there, to teach them, to have experiences with them, and just enjoy life with them. Doesn’t matter if it’s some big fancy trip somewhere or just spending 2 hours at the auto-shop with Oldest waiting to get a flat tire patched up (which we did yesterday). It’s still precious time together. It’s one reason I chose to work from home, because it puts me around my wife and my children all day every day. I don’t get to miss a moment of my wife or kids, and I’m always around for them.

I may be critical of our President in many areas, but here I can only give him praise.

Mr. Obama, you’ve earned some high respect in my book. Even if you fail as a President, I sincerely hope you continue to be a success as a father.