Happy Father’s Day

We don’t do holidays very “big” in our home.  It makes for a lot less pressure when things are already busy or out-of-our-normal-routine…like adding new twins to the family!  For Mother’s Day I got to get a pedicure, but I did it the following weekend when we had time.  For Father’s Day Ben picked a couple of favorite meals, we all took a nap, and we went to the park.  It was relaxing and fun, without being stressful or spending a lot of money.

Ben couldn’t decide between BLT’s or hamburgers…two simple meals that we enjoy but don’t eat very frequently.  So we had BLT’s on Saturday and hambugrgers on Sunday.  We also had some Samoa Brownies.  This recipe for homemade caramels makes the brownies easier and less expensive. Seriously…these are amazing brownies!  Thanks to my friend Erika for introducing us to them!

Nolan set the table for breakfast on Sunday.  We just had cereal, like every other day, but he was so excited to help out and do it all by himself!

Not bad for the first time!

The kids made these cute paper bag cards to give to Daddy.  When you fold it, you get a “secret pocket” for hiding another note or picture.  Elaine was excited to show it to Daddy.  She also answered some questions about Ben which we glued inside.  She did all of the cutting and gluing herself!

I wrote down just exactly what Elaine said, without any prompting from me.  I almost fell out of my seat when she matter-of-factly informed me that Daddy’s name was “Ben” because I didn’t think she knew that!  She made one of these for each Grandpa, too, and I hope they smile at her answers!

Nolan’s short on understandable words, so we just went with a handprint!

We got Ben some real maple syrup.  I grew up on the fake stuff, but Ben can’t eat pancakes without the real stuff.  We’ve been out for a while.  The kids each gave him a new contractor’s pencil, too.

After supper Elaine requested to go play in the sprinklers, and Daddy said “yes!”  The first park we walked to didn’t have the sprinklers running, so we walked a new path in hopes of finding one.  We went by the John Paul Jones park under the Verrazano Bridge.  Elaine has been asking to sit on the canon ever since she saw someone else doing it as we drove past one day.  So last night, Elaine and Nolan each got a turn on the canon!

love that smile!

We didn’t find another sprinkler, but we found a great big hill that was perfect for rolling down!  The kids and Daddy enjoyed getting dirty and romping in the grass while I sat with the twins. 

A little of this…

…and a little of this…

…and a lot of this!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch these two in a non-blurry picture? 

During one roll down the grass, Ben’s keen eyes spied a sprinkler in the distance.  We hopped back in the strollers and ran farther down the path, to find a deserted playground and a wonderful water fountain sprinkler – to the delight of Elaine & Nolan. 

  
Apparently I need to take in Nolan’s swimmy shorts!

I never did get a picture of Ben with all four kids.  But the twins don’t know what they missed, and Elaine and Nolan had a fantastic day with lots of Daddy attention. 

A Daddy has hard shoes to fill, because he is responsible for leading all of the little feet that patter along behind him.  He represents God as Father to his children while they are here on earth.  I feel so blessed that my children have Ben for their Daddy, and I know he takes his job seriously.