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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Outdoorsy Father's Day


Back when Calvin and Henry weren't even "a candy bar in their daddy's back pocket," their daddy was looking forward to teaching them, learning with them, and sharing with them the things he loves. Now our boys are here and they're still little, but James is wasting no time. So for Father's Day I wanted him to get to spend the day with the boys and me doing some things he enjoys: spending time outdoors, doing science-y stuff, and drinking fancy beer. (Don't worry. James didn't share the beer with the babies!)

The day did not start out great for James... while I was cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast, Henry puked on James and James gave him an impromptu sink bath. He said, "Well, you got puked on on Mother's Day and I got puked on on Father's Day. Guess we're even!"


Once everybody was cleaned up, we ate our breakfast and packed up for a picnic and a hike. We spent the afternoon at Coyote Point Recreation Area where we had what I think was one of our most enjoyable picnics yet. James got to drink the fancy and funky beer that I got him as a gift, Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene, and we had turkey and salami with pesto and sourdough bread, olives, cherries, and chocolate! Henry and Calvin were cheerful picnickers and played in the shade beside our table. 

Henry! What are you sleeping? Come on let's play!



After lunch, we took Calvin over to the playground for a few minutes before loading both boys into the double stroller for a walk along the Bay Trail. This is part of the route James takes when he bikes all the way to his office in San Jose, which he does every Friday, a 50 mile ride! So we got to see a bit of Dad's Friday morning commute. The idea was for the boys to nap during our walk, but only Henry did. 

When we walked back to Coyote Point, we headed over to CuriOdyssey - a science and nature museum with experiments to explore and animals to visit. 

You may notice that Calvin is wearing different pants from the picnic pics. He'd had one potty accident already and this pic is just moments before he had a second accident! Ugh!
Checking out the otters. (Note the third pair of pants. This time we had to put Henry's extra pants on Calvin because I only carry around one extra pair for each of them!)
They both really loved watching the otters. 
View of the otters from inside the tunnel.

When we left the park, we headed to Steelhead Brewery for dinner. James enjoyed their beer and we both enjoyed the food, but yi-yi-yikes eating dinner out is hard with these two! Sure, Calvin likes his Busy Bags, but he almost always refuses to eat. And we think Henry gets overwhelmed by the noise and it just makes him miserable. Plus at that time of day they are both tired because it's getting on bedtime. In the car on the way home James said, "We need to stop thinking that dinner out is a good idea." And he's right!

Even though the day started and ended kind of rough, I think James was happy and we all had a nice time. I love days like this. When we spend the whole day together, the weather is kind, the food is good, the babies are happy, and James and I can kind of exhale. Of course not everything goes perfectly, but on the really good days like this we are able to roll with it, be flexible, figure it out, and remember it all with a smile :)




3 comments:

  1. the line about a hershey bar in my father's back pocket comes from Laurie Anderson's Smoke Rings. great line, btw. henry is an equal opportunity puker, for sure. pobrecito nino. the boys are so cute! you guys are so cool riding the waves! happy father's day, jam! love y'all! thanks for the awesome post, dee!

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  2. I love how you don't let your challenges keep you tied to home. Doing such a variety of interesting things helps build so many positive experiences that the less positive moments seem less significant. Happy Father's Day to James!

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    1. It's true. Sometimes I need a reminder that life with our kids is more than just work! :) Thanks.

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