Father's Day 2013

 

Dan is a great Dad to our kids.  He invests a lot of himself into his children and prioritizes time with his family and I'm very grateful for that.  It's nice to have a day where we can show our appreciation to him for all that he does for our family on a day to day basis.  Being a good Dad isn't easy, and our family is really fortunate to have a wonderful father in Dan.

Dan's day started off with a very simple breakfast in bed.  He always has a banana with 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter on it for breakfast as he runs out the door each morning.  We added a piece of toast with Mom's homemade apple butter and greeted him in bed.



The kids love to do this and it feels like a special, sweet part of the day.  Dan enjoyed his breakfast and then we headed out for church.  After church we changed and went to Camas Meadows for lunch and a bit of putting.



It's such a beautiful golf course, I love to come here.  It's so peaceful, it feels like a mini vacation.  I love that it's so close to where we live.



We headed out to the putting practice green for a little family competition.



The next two photos are such examples of our life.  They make me laugh and feel tired all at the same time.  Pretty much how I feel a lot around here. :)

Dan gave the children a talk about golf etiquette and how to behave on a golf course. So as Dan is trying to help Kitti learn how to put, look who is in the back left acting like an animal.



And as I'm taking the next photo, I'm saying, "Andrew!  Stop it!" 

Oh my word. 

We are such a circus.

 

He did not take a divet out of the green and was actually being funny.  Except that it wasn't funny at the time.   However, I have learned to laugh at my life (at least in retrospect) or I would go crazy.

 

Andrew did settle in and tried to putt.  He is not a big fan of golf.  On a side note, I think he accidentally put on Matthew's pants that day because they are looking awfully long.  Wouldn't be the first time. :)

 

I was teaching the kids how to squat down and "read the green."   Andrew took it to a whole new level and did this

every.

time.

 

The "Daddy's Girl" in me loves this photo.

 

Being on the golf course reminds me of my Dad so it was nice to be there on Father's Day and in a small way feel closer to him.  So it just feels like such a happy place for me.  Being there with my own kids and teaching them how to golf was really special and fun.  I hope for this to be a game that we can enjoy as a family.  I wish so much my Dad could have been here with us.  He would have delighted in this day.  And he would have LOVED that I beat Dan in our putting competition.  :) 

One of the things that still puts a lump in my throat is the "Dad" section of Father's Day cards when I go to buy Dan's card each year.  For some reason that doesn't get easier.  But I still reflect on my own Dad on this day and give thanks for him.  His lessons and love live on and I can still feel grateful for that on this day and every day of the year.  And most of the time, I can do that with a smile now.  

 

My little Bugaboo.

After we golfed we headed home and got into play clothes to go explore a park that Dan wanted to check out.



The lake was not the cleanest...lots of algae.

 

I wasn't sure that I'd want to come back and let the kids swim in it, but a little wading never hurts (bath to follow!)

 

Dan's Father's Day request was a steak.  So a grilled steak, twice baked potatoes, a margarita and a simple salad made for a quick but nice dinner.

The kids washed the lake off, and then it was time for gifts!

 

Matthew made this great art piece at school for Dan.  I just have to pause here and share a word about Matthew's PJs.  He loves footie jammies.  Matthew has never liked change.  Transitions were always miserable with him as an infant and a toddler.  Altering his daily routine left us all regretting it for the rest of the day.  And so it comes as no surprise that he prefers footie PJs...just like he wore all the time as a baby, toddler, small child.  Except it gets harder to find them the bigger he gets!  I found these on the Land's end website after winter for a steal, and it was the only pattern left.  And I think they are SO ugly.  And I think nearly every picture we have of Matthew in this PJs he is wearing them! They are the first to go on as soon as they are clean and even in the middle of summer, the fleece PJs are on! 

 

Kaitlin's silky pony PJs that she's wearing were hand me downs from Claire, and she LOVES them. 

I think gifts might be one of Kaitlin's love languages.  She is forever wrapping things that she makes, finds, or picks from outside and gives them to people.  She was very proud of her card for Daddy.

 

Andrew and his sweet card too.

 

Dan received some simple gifts...I gave him some CS Lewis books to fill in more of his collection and a new dress shirt....

 

He has lost so much weight his clothes just hang on him, so I've been slowly buying new shirts for him.  He has a lot of very nice dress pants that just were ridiculous on him and we recently took them into Nordstrom where they were purchased to check about alterations and they altered all 8 pairs of them for free!!  It would have been very expensive to replace them all, and so we were thrilled.  I'm so happy that he has been committed to becoming healthier.  He looks great and is working hard to make good choices and I'm very proud of him.

It was a really fun day celebrating and showing gratitude for Dan and all he contributes to our family.  I love holidays and having an opportunity to pause from our day to day life and make fun memories as a family.