The cure for our kids’ loneliness and claustrophobia was four days and nights at Camp Davis in Austin, Texas. Lily moved in with Annabelle, also 11 while Henry moved in with Clementine, also 8. Ali and Cate marauded through a house filled with unfamiliar toys and belongings of older girls. They sought (and got) nearly unlimited attention from two new adults, There were empty rooms (some quiet, some loud) and Real Beds. There was a dog.
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| Miles of Smiles from the Makler/Davis Kids |
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| Cate and Eddie |
Some readers already know that Camp Austin belong to Lauren and Marc Davis. Some readers know that Lauren’s late mother was one of my mother’s best friends and until our lives finally converged in 1997, Lauren was a familiar reference of ambition and accomplishment (“Did you know that Lauren did such and such?”). Some readers know that Lauren has five siblings, had a garage that inspired the creation of Costco and spent her childhood in the back of a Chevy Suburban that may or may not have had seat belts.
Among many reasons, we admire Marc and Lauren for their entrepreneurship. You might even have relevant products in your home. For the last several years (until recently), Lauren has played a significant role for a company called Kinsa. If you have children and you don’t have a Kinsa thermometer, you should. (Perhaps you should have one even if you don’t have kids but I only know what I know.) Marc’s work is less of a household name but he’s part of a movement that is very important to our planet: electric cars. Marc has started a business called
Moment Motors that restores classic cars and retrofits them with electric motors. James May and Jerry Seinfeld can have their cake and eat it too, thanks to Marc.
Before we arrived, we knew their children were also remarkable (see Facebook, 2007 to Present for more) but reading headlines and spending four immersive days are two very different things. This house contains junior entrepreneurs (you’l be ordering a Whatacorn soon from Annabelle, you just don’t know it) and an amazing array of intellectual and artistic activities.
All of this is to say, we arrived to our children’s idea of paradise and joy ensued. A few highlights of note:
Friday morning Henry and Ali and I walked to school with Clementine and Lauren. There was a nonzero chance that Henry was going to head off to class with Clem after the morning assembly concluded. He was among fellow third graders who wanted to know his name, wanted to compliment his hat (Duluth Huskies), and were about to spend the day with their peers.
There was art. Endless coloring and a significant face painting episode.
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| Annabelle with Ali (l) and Cate (r) |
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| Cate did her own facepainting, with Eddie looking on. |
The house is filled with books. Lily found books in Annabelle’s room to read. Henry found Clementine’s bookshelf. Ali and Cate also found Clem’s shelf, which retains the best of the best books from earlier phases of reading. The house is also filled with toys. We all stepped on more legos this weekend than we have in months because several hundred got dumped out at the top of the stairs.
Music is prevalent. The twins enjoyed playing the household’s Ukulele. Annabelle demonstrated her trombone. Henry walked around strumming Marc’s red electric guitar. We listened to vinyl records on 40 year old speakers with glorious, sensuous bass. Austin City Limits was in full force a few miles away and we were having our own party. All four of our kids drowned themselves in the Hamilton coffee table book after Henry found it in Clem’s bunk bed. High heaven!
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| The music is exactly as good as Marc's face suggests. |
On Saturday, one of Elise’s friends drove over from Houston (about three hours, nothing to sniff at) with family members in tow. We spent most of their visit at an indoor (re: air conditioned) trampoline park. It’s one of those times that Henry is so sweaty he looked as though he had showered in his clothes. Also on Saturday, the four adults went out to dinner, leaving a box of pizza and the 11 year olds in charge. (Granted, it was a 5:15 reservation and a neighbor was assigned to stop by in the six o’clock hour to inspect and report.) Also, we highly recommend Laundrette if you are looking for dinner in Austin.
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| Ali in the ball pit at Urban Air |
As I reflect and write about this visit, it puts me in a mindset about friendships. I can count many friendships, especially if I succumb to Facebook’s definition and gamification. But if I think about this friendship that really began when Lauren and I partnered as camp counselors in the summer of 1994 and has its roots in the older friendship of our mothers, I can appreciate the unique opportunity to bring our families together for four days. We can each count ourselves lucky to appreciate and respect a person over such a long period of time. We can be especially grateful when our spouses and our children can enjoy each other in these circumstances.
I’ve put a lot of time and energy into imagining the creation of friendships as we travel the world. I’ve wondered how our children will meet and enjoy other kids in the cities and countries that we will visit. Yet, over the last four months, we’ve had amazing opportunities to spend time with familiar friends. We had great reunions in Minnesota with Elise’s high school tribe. We dropped in on friends who were once colleagues in upstate New York. We saw friends from Boston when we were there. It’s really been wonderful to have the time and to use the time to make these connections.
Three cheers to friendship and a huge thanks for the hospitality of Camp Davis.
Happy tears! What a great experience.
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