Father's Day Weekend

What a great Father's Day weekend we had.  The weather here in North Carolina has been especially beautiful lately.  Usually by mid June I am hibernating in some dark, air-conditioned corner, trying to forget the sweltering humidity outside.  This year has been different.  We always have a beautiful spring, but this has been an especially long one, and I am loving it!

We went to Kinston to spend the weekend, so we could celebrate Father's Day with family.  On Saturday we went out to eat Indian food in Greenville for a belated celebration of Chad's 30th birthday.  (Yes, I did say 30th!)  The food was super yummy and we had a great time laughing and being together as a family.  Nana and Papa were even adventurous enough to try Indian cuisine, and they both said they surprisingly liked it.  (Although, Papa did keep wondering aloud why we couldn't just go to Chili's.)  The culminating moment of the birthday celebration was definitely devouring Joy's homemade carrot cake, which is sinfully delicious.  I think she should open a bakery that only serves carrot cake.  I know it would be a huge hit.     

Sunday morning we went to church, and Chad went to nursery with Kaden (even though it was Father's Day) so I could go to Relief Society, which was a real treat for me.  Kaden usually screams unless I go to nursery with him, so it was pretty awesome.

Then we came home and had a fabulous steak dinner to honor all of the fathers present.  And we had some more carrot cake. 

I got to talk with my grandpa and dad on the phone, since they live too far away for me to wish them a happy Father's Day in person.

Gigi entertained Kaden by letting him help her water the flowers outside, while we packed.  What started out as watering the flowers, ended up as watering Kaden.  He had the best time running through the spray from the garden hose:

We got Kaden all dried off and into some warm PJ's, and then we hit the road.  Just outside of Snow Hill we almost hit a deer, at which point we realized Kaden's car seat wasn't buckled in and felt like terrible parents.  Seriously.  After Chad swerved to miss the deer, we turned around to check on him, and he was completely sideways, staring at us with this look that seemed to say, "What's going on here, guys?"  Luckily, we didn't hit the deer (thanks to Chad's mad driving skills), so disaster was averted.  We pulled over, fixed the car seat issue, and felt so grateful we were all OK.

Chad and I have talked many times about what great dads we are blessed with, and we talked about that again on our car trip home Sunday night.  Our dads are very different, but they are both wonderful fathers.  I am so thankful for my dad and the influence for good he has been in my life.  Likewise, I am thankful for my father-in-law and the wonderful man he is.  I know it is because of his dad's example, that Chad is such an amazing daddy to our little boy.  Here are Chad and Kaden together on Father's Day: (Kaden is wearing a Sunday outfit that Chad wore as a little boy.  I'm sentimental, so I think that's pretty much the cutest thing ever.)     

I'm so glad we have a day to honor the wonderful fathers in our lives.  In a world where family values seem to be deteriorating, it's so nice to honor the men who live up to the definition of dad.