Father's Day

Our Father's Day celebration actually started Saturday night with a backyard camp out.  I had taken Carter to a birthday party from 7-9, and Kenny had the tent set up by the time we got home.  I guess Ethan was his little helper and handed him the pieces of pole as he needed them.  Of all of the kids, Ethan is by far the most hands-on.  He always wants to "help" and can figure out how to put stuff together and take it apart on his own.  His little mind is always working.

The plan for the night was for the entire family to camp out, but Megan took a look at the radar, which showed a line of storms headed our way, and decided to hold down the fort in the house for us.  She did come out for awhile, but didn't want to sleep outside, OR get any nighttime pictures taken!  We tried to leave the dog inside with her, but he whined so loudly that we let him out to join us in the tent.

After playing in the tent for a bit, we made campfire cones on the grill.  (I forgot to get the graham crackers for s'mores, so we had to improvise, and luckily had the cones.)  We thought they would be less messy than the s'mores, but Jacob proved us wrong.  Although he was a mess, he had a great time eating it!

Next up, was catching lightning bugs.  Carter got a jar from the pantry to put them in, but he didn't need it, because as hard as they tried, they didn't catch a single one!

It was really hot out and even hotter in the tent, so we didn't lay down to go to sleep until around 11:00.  Even then, Jacob was too excited to go to sleep.

He kept calling out to Kenny, "You sweepin', Dad?"  He even crawled over to him and grabbed his face to check.  Then, he was irritated by any part of Carter touching any part of him.  So, every time Carter would move in the slightest, we would hear Jacob shout out, "You make my nervous!"  Translation:  You're getting on my nerves!  Oh how that kid can make me laugh!

The kids finally fell asleep by midnight, but by 1:00, the winds picked up and there was thunder in the distance.  Megan pulled up the radar on her phone and we determined that it would be best to pack up and head inside.  Come to find out, it didn't even rain overnight!  Oh well, we have all summer to camp out, so we will give it another try later on.  It's always better to be safe than sorry, and it was fun while it lasted.

On Father's Day, we met my parents and Kenny's mom at Red Lobster for lunch, went swimming at my parents', and had pizza for dinner.  It was a nice relaxing day for all of us. 

I was lucky to have the dad that I did growing up.  He did his best to teach all three of us girls how to be self sufficient.  He taught us how to file our own taxes, how to pay bills, to drive a stick shift, and bought us gifts like tool boxes with tools, car jacks, and mace.  Probably, not the top on teenage girls' lists, but completely necessary!  Not only did I learn a lot from my dad, but Kenny has now learned a lot too.  It's pretty amazing to have your spouse think of your father as a father figure and look up to him.  He has taught Kenny how to work on electricity, plumbing, install a fence, and build a deck. We both think he is pretty great and know that we are fortunate to have him in our lives.

I was happy to get to spend Father's Day with my two favorite guys in the world!  I'm even more thrilled that my kids get to have both of them in their lives.