Father's Day Weekend

Julia, Aidan,

Thank you for making me a father. And thanks for letting me be your dad. 

I got just what I wanted: time with both of you and Mommy; and time with my Dad and our family too!

Saturday morning you both woke up SUPER early (like before 6 am!) I guess you were so excited that you didn't want to miss a minute of the weekend! So, around 7:45 I was going to go for a run, and Julia you asked to come with me on your bike...and then Aidan, you asked to come too.

Of course!

So while the weather was still crisp and cool, we headed out and zipped through the neighborhood and up to the elementary school playground, where you guys played and pretended and (after I did a few laps on the track) we did even more playing!

It was a brilliant way to start the weekend off right!

We ran some errands, hung out, played games, listened to music, did a little shopping, and soaked in the nice weather in our backyard...which was about to be changed forever.

On Sunday we all slept in...and then you both took turns helping me make pancakes. Then we went kayaking on White Rock Lake!

I've been itching to do this for a long time with you and Mommy. It's been quite a while...and it was totally worth it! We saw turtles and cranes and we raced and got wet and had so much fun!

The day continued with some fun-in-a-box, playing (and errands) with sleep masks, and drawing and playing games at home. 

Aidan, you worked really hard on this stencil art and gave it to me for fathers day "To Dad from Aidan227"

Then we met up with Mimi and Pops and Holden for special sushi dinner and bakery dessert happy fun times.

This was such an easy-going, no-stress fathers day weekend. But, to be fair-even though I know it's cheesy- pretty much every day is 'fathers day' when I'm with you! You guys always make me feel special and loved...and I always aim to return the favor. 

I love you to the moon and back.

4.5

I was about to head out for a run on a brisk, but not too cold, Saturday morning.

You said "can I ride my bike with you while you run?"

It had been a while since we tried this. And you've gotten so much better at the bike. So I said "YES!"

We packed up the car, headed down to the Bath House at the Lake and started our ride/run!

It was a LOT of fun!

We talked and chatted and talked about life and all sorts of things a long the way. I know that's not specific, but the specifics have vanished into the ether, and that's left is the warm glow of talking with you.

You rode so proudly, and rang your bell.

Passersby cheered you on, much to your delight.

We rode and rode, much longer than I thought you would want to. But you didn't want to turn back until we hit the bridge.

We saw the big bridge over the lake, and we conquered it.

You sped down to the other side, and we kept going!

Over more trails and bridges we went together, happily moving along towards nothing in particular.

We stopped many times. For water, to look at interesting sticks and sites in the water. To check out the birds, and practice reading on the "birds of white rock lake" sign.

You even stopped when you eagle-eye spotted some horseshoe prints in the sand! You deduced which way the horses were heading, we asked some other bikers if they saw the horses. They confirmed your deduction and we tried to find them. But, alas, they had already clip-clopped too far away.

We decided to turn around. And it was kind of poetic too. Because there, across the lake, was the white Bath House building where we started!

We headed back, back through the 'bird poop' area... (pardon the smell)

 ....back up the hill...

and then back home to Mommy and Aidan.

When all was said and done, we went 4 and a half miles! You could not wait to tell your Mommy three things.

1) We went 4 and a half miles!
2) You saw horseshoe prints!
3) We went over the big bridge!

We were sore the next day. But we had a blast. And I can't wait to do it again.