EXPLORE UT!

Every year, our alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, holds EXPLORE UT. This is a one-day open house aimed at exposing students of all ages to college and what a campus looks like. There are hundreds of programs - things like the making of ice cream instantly with liquid nitrogen, arts and craft projects and a mock trial of Goldilocks put on in an actual courtroom at the UT School of Law and presided over by a federal judge.

I have taken Lane and Maren a couple of years in the past while Tim stayed home with Reed. This year, we all went. Reed thoroughly enjoyed himself and it was fun for Tim to see the campus we graduated from again. While he goes back several times a year, to the Blanton Museum or for student-teaching activities, those are always on the outskirts of campus. This is the first time he's actually walked through the whole campus in 20 years.

The University of Texas tower has been closed to visitors since 1966 when Charles Whitman went up to the observation deck and gunned down dozens of people. It has reopened for tours in the last few years, but Tim & I had never been up there. Tours were free during EXPLORE UT, so we got tickets and all of us went up to the top. What a view!

Our day ended by going to the Ransom Center to have our caricatures drawn and then attending a magic show outside. Reed was picked out of the audience to be an assistant during a rope trick.

We'll go back again next year -- it was a very successful day!