All About Dads

Riley returned home from his Tulsa work trip on Friday night and Hallie was elated when she layed eyes on him....so excited, in fact, that she let him hold her while he mowed......

"Shouldn't we be wearing ear plugs?"

Although that picture was taken before she became terrified and the alligator tears started to flow and the reaching for mommy started. She far more enjoyed watching her daddy from afar until he finished. She had extra bigs hugs and kisses saved up for him. And so began Riley's very first Father's Day weekend....

..... ya see, Hallie has this dad. And he's pretty cool. She has been planning and scheming for weeks about what to do for her dada for Father's Day. How could a 10 month old on a limited salary (a plastic bottle full of coins, mostly pennies) do something super duper special for her favorite guy? She crossed off mowing yards because of her recent fear. She gave up walking dogs after a day because she is vertically challenged. And she even tried being a lifeguard.....they frown upon pooping in the pool so that was a no go. So finally with a little bit of help from her mama she went shopping, picked out the perfect gifts to say "I love you dada", went grocery shopping, and packed the car in preparation to take dada somwhere. Multi-talented gal. One gift in particular had Hallie's stamp on it...no really, it had her footprint on it. The sweetie spent Friday afternoon making a special something for her dada with the help of Miss Jennifer and her daughter Cass. As always they are spectacular and sent me pics of their craftiness.....

"Snack time should always preceed any fun activity"

Those little feetsies

"What is going on!?"

Those precious hands

Once Riley got home from working (yes, on a Saturday, and no, I have no idea why) we told him we were headed off to a secret location. Hallie wanted to blindfold him but I told her that he has been known to get car sick as a wee little boy so we had better skip that part. I told him not to guess along the way as to not hurt her feelings if he guessed the spot she had picked out. Being the silly dada that he is he guessed ridiculous places along the way and Hallie I'm sure was pleased that he never figured it out. In reality I'm pretty sure he knew exactly where we were going before we backed out of the driveway. ;)

"Your surprise is waiting for you on the other side of this bridge dad."

SURPRISE: A PICNIC! We pulled into Boiling Springs and I told dada and his girl to head over to take a look at the turtles in the pond while I set up lunch....

He had a pile of gifts waiting for him when he returned. I am 100% certain that he loved each and every one of them. This is a man who is not easy to shop for....I tend to cringe each time he opens a gift because I have no idea what he is going to think of it. Hallie did good. She did real good. His favorite (which he put on right away) was the shirt she made for him. The smile on his face was priceless....

A close second was a new pair of Oakley's......

"dada"

After dada had tried on all of his goodies it was time to chow down. I don't want to single anybody out but someone (hint: the smallest Fanning) was very hungry......

"nana"

The baby menu: milk, graham crackers, cheerios, and bananas......

The adult menu: sandwiches, pasta salad and fruit. Although it was already 95 degrees outside we found a great place to stay cool under a big tree with a breeze blowing by. Hallie seemed like an expert picnicker and sat in one place, didn't move a muscle (except to grab a cracker) and just watched the birds and listened to us talk. I was a little worried about her crawling (or walking) off into the dirt, stickers, and ants. Just goes to show that anywhere there is food, there she will be. ;) After she had packed away all of her snackies it was time to play...but not before getting lathered in a few layers of sunscreen.....

A sticky mohawk

Dada's girls

Nothing sweeter

After our picnic Hallie and Riley spent some quality time together at the farm while I prepared some food for a cookout that night. I hear Hallie got to practice driving, visit the cows and made a stop by great grandma Ida's house. That night we had our friends Matt and Heather over for a cookout. Note to self: never have a cookout when you are staying at someone else's house. Don't get me wrong, we had a GREAT time...but it was a bit diffucult to find everything in the kitchen so I spent what seemed like most of the night searching cabinets and drawers to find serving spoons, basters, bowls, plastic containers etc. Hallie was wonderful entertainment for a couple hours...she devoured on a popsicle....

"All gone"

Munched on a frog while chasing Matt and Heather's drinks as she walked round and round the table.....

"one of these times they won't be paying attention and I'll sneak a drink..."

Helped dad with the grilling.....

Then it was adult time! Goodnight Hallie.....hello relaxation! On the menu....barbecue chicken, grilled potatoes and corn on the cob and (to make sure our bellies were full) some strawberry/blueberry shortcake to top it off. Yum!!! Always a lot of laughs with the four of us and we definitely don't get together as often as we should!

As Father's Day dawned, so did Hallie and I. We were on a mission (a frantic race) to get showered, dressed and ready for church and leave enough time to prepare breakfast in bed for Riley. We somehow pulled it off and surprised him with breakfast and coffee in bed. Hallie was in my arms munching on the bread as we came around the corner...hey, I'll take her chewing on his bread over grabbing for the coffee in my other hand. ;) I might mention that he was still relaxing in bed ten minutes before church started....oops! We had lost track of time and hadn't woken daddy up! So instead of breakfast in bed, it was more like "breakfast on the counter after church." Lol. He finally enjoyed it (minus the cold coffee) and thanked his special girl for her hard work......

Taste testing

Now it was time to celebrate another spectacular Dad.....off to Enid to spend the afternoon with my "daddio." (Riley joined us since his dad is living it up in Australia this week). The Detrixhes, Fannings, and Spaeths decided to join forces and celebrate three wonderful dad's together! David put his grilling skills to good use and we all jumped in the pool as soon as we walked through the door. Hallie had a new toy waiting for her in the pool. The youngest swimmer was on pool partol....preventing unruly behavior, cannonballs, dunking and diving. Look out! Pool patrol is coming for you.....

"Pull over, you are swimming way too fast..."

Gman showed up and Aunt B and I got Dad's gifts ready. Hallie took a ride over in one of his gifts and surprised him.....

All eyes on Gman

His favorite gift: a dog tag with Momma's picture on it

The afternoon was just perfect: swimming, tanning, lounging, napping, eating and laughing. Couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate my dad, Hallie's dad, and Uncle David....all outstanding, award-winning dads!! Here's a peek into our afternoon o fun!

As her most appreciated Father's Day gift, Hallie decided to be on her very best behavior for her dada. She was content in the car during our trip, happy as a lark in the pool, took a good little nap and spent the evening back at home being as silly as they come. We finished out the day relaxing in the backyard and taking a spin around the block in the Mustang. Hallie and I don't know what we would do without Dada (as evidenced by last week, we go crazy without him). We love you Riley!

"I just need something good to read and I'll be fine"

My father is just as much my hero as my mother was. For so many reasons...too many to list but I'll give a few. My dad is the most charismatic, enthusiastic, committed, loving, funny, goofy, respectable, giving and caring man that I've ever known. It's easy to say those things but I can think of 1,000 examples to display these attributes. He would give a stranger the shirt off his back....he would go to the ends of the earth to provide for us....he was a wonderful husband who showed me how to make a relationship last....he was stable and steady...hard working to boot. I sure do love that man I call daddio.