A fun, long Father's Day.

I usually post multiple pictures with my posts and that has not been the case for a while. Our netbooks decided that it was a good time for both to crash on us. I have been posting using my phone, and that is a pain in the neck, including the inability to post more than one picture per post. I found our desktop Monday morning, merely by accident. P was surprised where I found it, he forgot where it was packed. We were wonderfully organized during our move.

But this is about Father's Day... For the past three weeks, practice has begun at 10:00 a.m., and that is for warm up and instructions. We are usually early, but not Sunday. Practice started at 8:00, and we had had a late night. On Saturday evening we met with Nana, Aunt C, and Cousin B for dinner (I'll post about that next). When we arrived home we were tired, knew of our early start, but were also wired. We watched Ralphie May's new stand up comedy routine, and had a lot of laughs. I had already seen it, and that boy still managed to crack me up a storm.

P woke me up at 6:00, and that is unusual, because I'm usually up hours before him. SS joined me for a cuddle, then fell asleep right away. This did not bode well for our day, we were still feeling our late night. We did not stop for our usual breakfast, since we were running late. By the time we made it to Buena Park, we knew we had made a mistake, were late anyway, and went though a drive thru for nourishment. SS loved the french toast sticks, but without syrup. That kid is really funky about her likes and dislikes.

P is a very punctual person, and rips me a new one when we are late somewhere. Because it is obvious that it is always my fault when we are late. Never mind the fact that we have a child known for throwing us off schedule. But when he realized that we had missed the bulk of warm up, he was very pleased. According to Michelle, the long, boring warm up is new this year. It's too long for our taste. I always manage to tend to SS's "needs" to skip some portion. On our first practice I was not too confident, when I realized our warm up leader has a handicapped permit on her van. Don't judge me, Michelle and P felt the same way.

I usually paddle next to Michelle, and P next to Joe. During the drive there P asked if I would paddle with him. It was Father's Day and he wanted that as a treat. Michelle agreed to watch SS for us. Our leader was not very pleased, because they want us next to an experienced paddler. Oh well, one time won't hurt. It turned out to be a good decision, because the first group was out for 45 minutes. A new family joined us for the first time this season, and the guy took over steering and calling out instructions. He apparently gave them a heck of a workout. We were both already feeling rough, no need for physical punishment.

P modeling some of his FD gifts. He wanted a fitted Angels hat, and $38 later he found a suitable one. That is one gift I could not get without him present. P also received Angels shorts and an Angels watch. The other positive aspect about missing the first time out, is that we got to digest our breakfast, and SS had us both with her at the same time.

These are the kids from the family who joined us for the first time.  The girl is eight years old, and not that much taller than SS.  The boy is four, and SS was not very fond of him, which is weird, she's all about boys.  He does have a repaired cleft lip, and given his poor speech, possibly also a cleft palate. Communication was not easy, and for someone who has experienced speech difficulties, SS was not very understanding.

That's us in the back. You can tell we are not a coordinated group.  The couple in front of us was driving us batty. They were so off, and it threw us off even more. The woman in front of me would start early and would consistently get an extra stroke when we all stopped. The dude was throwing P off as well. They just returned from China, so we hope it's the jet lag. If not, they really suck, because they have been doing this a long time. 

 

Thanks Michelle, for taking these pictures.

SS loves to pitch in when the boat comes in. We did not have to clean it this week, so SS grabbed a paddle to rinse, while avoiding the water.

Of course she had to get her air guitar act on.

We had a really small showing this practice, and the main leader was attending her son's graduation. Only one family went to In N Out, and we didn't feel too bad going on our own, with M & J for lunch.  We went to Wahoo's for fish tacos. SS is a fan of stickers, so when I saw the outside, I thought she was going to be in sticker heaven. They are all over the walls, tables, you name it. We sat down and SS was taking everything in around her. She then leaned over and whispered in my ear, "it's creeping me out." Huh? I asked what specifically crept her out, and it was the stickers. Weird. We had a nice, leisure lunch, where the adults had a b*tch session about practice, and life in general. We were glad that practice was early, it's much better to get out before the sun descends on us with all its fury.

We bid our goodbyes, made plans to get together next Saturday at our home, then headed to Soak City.  SS did not eat much at lunch, and plopped down to finish her and mine French toast sticks. SC allows small coolers with water and sports drinks. We place ours in the back of the stroller, and so far no one has checked. SS was able to get her contraband in without a problem.  We were so sore after practice, and headed to the lazy river, where we spend one hour. If I had been wearing a wide brim hat, I would have taken a nice nap. P kept dozing off.  This time we sat on the tubes, and SS joined us, a rarity. She spent time on top of each of us, or sitting next to us, while playing with the water.  Snoopy's Ice Show began Friday, and P wanted us to see it, so after a few hours we changed clothes, and made our way to Knott's. 

Michelle gave SS the Woodstock that is attached to her Snoopy necklace. It turned out to be the catalyst for a fun, beautiful interaction between Snoopy and SS later in the evening. Man she really looks good with that hat and sunglasses.  I had been looking for a child Angels hat for the longest time. Finally found one online and SS is beyond thrilled.

I relented and bought the over priced, gaudy necklace. The thing is that they had a light up sword, and we thought she was going to go for that. But she changed her mind and ended up with the necklace.  When JJ attended his first ice show, I bought him a light up toy, with a Mickey Mouse (it was Ice Capades) light up head. During Rosalyn Summers solo dance, all the lights were off, except for the spotlight on her. All of a sudden you could see all the light up toys, and people swinging from side to side. JJ was beyond impressed, I think he got more out of that sight, than the ice skating Disney characters. I wanted SS to have a similar positive experience.  However, we are in agreement that our daughter needs to hear the word no more often. 

The Beagle sure knows how to make an entrance.

I missed parts of the show, even though we were seated on the front row.  How come? Just look at this sight, a mesmerized SS.  Few things in life beat seeing the world through a child's eyes. Nothing beats seeing the world through your child's eyes. 

We were not done with our day. We headed over to Mrs. Knott's for their famous fried chicken dinner.  OMG, that was a heck of a lot of food, it's impossible not to leave with leftovers.  SS didn't eat much of hear meal, and it came in handy Monday for lunch. P and I only had a piece of chicken each, and that left four more for the next day. SS loved the boysenberry punch. too bad they don't sell that stuff. We could not hold in another bite, so we took our boysenberry pie slices to go. P had to take his huge bag of leftovers to the car. It would not fit in our humongous stroller. We were surprised that SS's child meal included a full size slice of pie.  We still have a slice in the fridge, and we are finishing it off after dinner today.

 Baba with his little devil, brute, heathen, Angel.

After dusk, Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular begins. We were tired, but had promised SS that we would see it, but briefly. They convert Camp Snoopy into a show of lights and music, and it is simply spectacular. We thought SS was going to hop out of the stroller and get down and boogie. Nope, she remained in the stroller, a clear indication that she was exhausted. We decided to walk around a little then head home.

SS did hop out of the stroller as soon as she saw Snoopy. That girl has had a lot of face time with him. One thing I like about Knott's is that it is so different from Disneyland, in terms of accessibility to the characters. SS has been able to hug Snoopy on every visit so far.

I was completely bummed out that I thought I had filmed their interaction, because I know SS would have loved to watch it over and over. I suck at camera work. SS excitedly showed Snoopy her Woodstock, and told him it was a gift from Aunt Michelle (apparently Snoopy knows everyone).  Snoopy took the toy and hugged it, then started walking away. I worried that SS was going to cry, but she just followed him and mentioned that it was hers.  Snoopy placed Woodstock on his bird house, something I had not noticed being there before. SS was beaming, it was a really beautiful moment.



As tired as she was, SS began to wail when we told her we were going home. We could not have cared less. It was a long, fun day. P seemed pleased, and that is all that mattered to me. SS fell asleep on the way home, and P successfully got her into her bed. Good, because I was not in the mood for a crying fit, or having her asking to come to bed with us. P fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Darn I wish I could be like that. Not a bad Father's Day.