We tend to do our school and house work Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday for trips. Knowing that this would be our last Friday in Austin, I finally made good on a promise I made to the boys to try to take them and the kayak the park’s owner told us we could use. Since they knew they were going to have the opportunity to swim at our cousins’ house later, only three of the children ended up going to the beach with me, but we had a good time. Owen discovered that controlling that boat against the steady 15 mph wind was harder than it looked. And Ian, ever the doting big brother, agreed to have Olivia sit in front of him while he rowed her out and back, again and again. I’m not sure which one enjoyed it more.
Later on Friday, we went out to Georgetown to visit with cousins from Bob’s side, Bill and Robin. The children had fun playing in the pool. They had really missed playing and swimming in water that you could see through to the bottom. Then, after cousin Matthew and his girlfriend Kerry arrived, we ate dinner. The children did manage to watch the final episode of one of their favorite shows while we adults visited. After dinner, we saw pictures and videos from Bill and Robin’s recent trip to Argentina. Such a different culture, and yet, our needs are so similar. Robin is an excellent photographer, and even caught an iceberg calving. It was such a joy to be with family again, and it seemed that 9:30 and the resulting tiredness came much too quickly.