Episode CLXXXVII: Family Visits

In the last two months, we met up with my family TWICE. The first time, they came to see us. The second time, we came to see them.

First, in October, the family came to visit us in Texas to celebrate Elliot's 5th birthday.

While in Texas, we had a birthday celebration at the park. We also hung out, played games, ate meals, and played outdoor volleyball.

In November, we went to California to celebrate Thanksgiving.

While in California, we went for a swim. We also hung out, played games, ate meals, and played outdoor volleyball.

Episode CLXXXVI: Cabin #8

It's been a while since our last Norris Family Cabin trip! We took advantage of the 3-day Labor Day weekend to visit Wichita Falls, TX.

What is there to do in Wichita Falls, TX? Not a whole lot. Its main tourist attraction(?) is the World's Littlest Skyscraper. Supposedly back in 1919 a builder tricked the town into investing in a "high rise" building. The investors didn't read the official building documents closely enough to note the drawings were for a 480" (inch) building, not for a 480' (feet) building. So in the end they were stuck with a very short and skinny building.

The building is so skinny that ~1/4 of its volume is taken up by the stairwell

We visited a park on the Wichita River, where we crossed it on a swinging bridge, played disc golf, and visited the (manmade) falls.

But the main event, as usual, was the cabin itself, and the fun of playing in someone else's house.

This cabin introduced Elliot to the game snakes & ladders, and now he's addicted to it

In particular, this cabin had a spacious backyard full of toys and games, which was a highlight for both of the kiddos.

Episode CLXXXV: Family Business and Pleasure

These days my wife and I work in very similar scientific fields, much more so than in the past. That means that in theory, both of us might be interested in attending some of the same scientific conferences.

We tried it out for the first time this summer, and took the whole family for a business & pleasure trip. The conference, on RNA biology, was held at a ski resort in the mountains of central Maine.

During the day, the kids enjoyed exploring the mountains: hiking the ski slopes, swimming in the river, playing frisbee, and generally enjoying a break from the oppressive Texas summer.

View from our balcony

The kids were equally excited about playing in the hotel room. In fact, playing with just about anything (socks, wrappers, cardboard) in the hotel room was a blast.

Meg's parents live in Maine, so we also took some family vacation time to stay with them, play at their house, go to the beach, etc.

Finally, in Maine we also celebrated Lydia's 1st birthday!

She doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, so instead we provided her with a cupcake made out of refried beans and cheese. She loved it.

Elliot and Lydia on their 1st birthdays, with similar not-amused faces.

Episode CLXXXIV: Dinner Delivered By Robot

The Norris Family recently tried out a new on-campus food delivery option: autonomous robot vehicles.

We opened up an app on my phone, told the robot to meet us at a park across the street from daycare, and then watched the map as a robot went and picked up food from our local Panera.

~15 minutes later, we saw our robot, off in the distance! However, we had to wait until it reached our pre-arranged rendezvous point. So we waited patiently for it to cross the street.

This robot is the most cautious street-crosser in history. It literally waited for 10 minutes to cross the street.

Elliot is both fascinated and afraid of autonomous rolling vehicles, thanks to our robot vacuum at home. He was so in awe of our delivery robot that he couldn't remember to stay out of its way.

Finally, we all made it to the rendezvous point. The robot popped open its lid, and played us some life-affirming reggae music ♫

The sandwiches were still warm, and the smoothie was still cold 👍

(And lots of passersby enjoyed the event)

Episode CLXXXIII: Cabin #7

The kiddos had some holiday time off from daycare, so we took a trip to Cabin #7, in Austin Texas.

First stop was the LBJ Presidential Library.

Elliot is fascinated and terrified by animatronics, including LBJ

The weather was great, which allowed us to do some nice outdoor activities.

Lydia feeling the sand between her toes

Austin & The Colorado River

We visited Barton Springs Pool, a huge natural-spring-fed municipal pool that stays around 69 degrees year-round.

Elliot "swimming" with Daddy

On the way out we stopped by the Texas State Capitol. Largest capitol building in the country.

Elliot is learning to be a goofball when the camera comes out

Traditional nap time in the car