Dad Days

This weekend, it worked out that we had two days that represented our two dads very well. It wasn’t planned, but it turned out to be a good Father’s Day tribute!

Ice Tribute Day

Saturday morning Andrew pumped up the bikes and attached the converted bike trailer that holds little Chuy. Our first ride with it was full of stops and starts as we worked out the best method to keep her safely inside the trailer, but we’ve got a good method going now. Chuy is not a big fan of car rides, but she enjoys the bike rides! The only thing she doesn’t appreciate is when she sees a squirrel run across the road and can’t take off after it.

I had a little mishap turning a corner and ended up with my tire sandwiched between a tree and a fence with my momentum going perpendicular to my tire. Don’t ask, but we got to take a trip to the conveniently downtown-located bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong for a quick fix. I’m sure Tim Ice would have welcomed the detour!

After some fast work by Mellow Johnny’s staff we headed down first to Barking Springs, a great little area in Zilker Park with nice cool water and some great swimming for us and the pupster. Rain was threatening a little at the beginning but the sun soon came out. Andrew got to see Chuy’s latest trick- leaping into the water after her Frisbee! She is not yet a confident jumper- she will find one spot she knows she can jump from and always leap from there, no matter what direction we throw the Frisbee.

Since the weather had cleared up, we rode over to the other side of the stream so that we could rent a canoe. We weren’t sure what Chuy’s reaction was going to be, but we thought she’d enjoy it. Turns out she enjoyed it a little too much.

I was in the front and Andrew was in the back of the canoe, steering. Chuy was having a lot of fun running back and forth between us and up to the front of the canoe where she liked to put her front paws up and check out where we were going. She made rowing pretty difficult- the oars made a little bit of white water every time we put them in the water. White water is one of Chuy’s favorite things and she tries to bite it. She was whimpering with excitement and after about 10 minutes it apparently got to be too much for Chuy. She jumped into the water to go after it! I was looking forward, so all I heard was the splash. We immediately but the “brakes” on, she caught up and Andrew picked her up out of the water and back into the boat. Only a few minutes later, she did it again! Both times she seemed inordinately pleased with herself.

After that, I held our little jumper while Andrew paddled all the way back by himself…

After a short picnic lunch we took a quick side trip to the Austin Farmers’ Market and then back home. That night we went to a great restaurant called Ronnie’s Real Food and immediately decided that the next time the Ice’s are in town we should take them there.

Balaze Tribute Day

Sunday dawned and I visited a new church- one of the first ones I have actually liked in Austin. Then Andrew and I met a fun family at a hamburger place my dad really liked last time he was here. We both got ice tea in honor of my dad.

After that we headed to the golf course! Andrew and I would both like to know how to work our way through the golf course without too many mulligans. We got a bucket of balls and headed to the driving range. Last time I was in Dallas I went out with my dad and he gave me some pointers. I passed them on to Andrew. We both had some whiffs, some real stinkers and a few good shots. Hopefully with some more practice we’ll get better!

Finally, Andrew made dinner Sunday night. Since my dad cooks half the time at home, this was very appropriate. Andrew made a chicken rice pilaf out of one of our favorite cookbooks. It was really good!

All in all, a very good weekend!