Celebrating Daddies Everywhere

I woke a few times early morning not feeling so well. My mouth was dry, my stomach queasy, and my head aching. I got up around 6am to take more Advil and refill my empty water glass. I went back to sleep until 9am. By then, I felt much better but still a tad hungover. Frankie was still out cold after a raucous night in her own right. She fought with her brother and sister until the wee hours of the morning. Despite opening her pen, she remained asleep in her bed. I started feeling better after some coffee. I convinced Frankie to get up around 930am so we could head out back. She relieved herself after some play. While Frankie played, I cleaned up most of the toilet paper Chrissy decorated my backyard with. And while I was out there, I watered all the rear flowers too. That took me until 1015am. It was supposed to be a gorgeous Fathers Day – oodles of sunshine and temps near 90, and it was already well on its way. I spent the next hour or so dealing with work related matters. I let Mindy sleep in. She woke naturally around 11am. She wasn’t up long before I headed out on my Sunday run. I ran three miles. And it was a warm and sticky three miles, too. Mindy showered then headed to the grocery store to pick-up a few last minute things for our Father’s Day cookout, which was slated to begin around 3 or 4pm. While Mindy was away, I took a brief nap. After waking, I went out and put air in the boat trailer tires – the one thing I failed to address on Saturday. Mindy expected the kids home around 3pm, but I could swear she told me 2pm the day before. After a quick shower, I was out back with Frankie. Turns out, the kids were home closer to 2pm. Jacob said he wanted to go with me to get Lindsey and the boys. Before we left, the kids and Mindy gifted me for Father’s Day. The kids gave me a nice card and made a t-shirt complete with their hand prints and a “Go Vikings” homemade logo. Very cool! Mindy gifted me a pair of Born shoes to replace my ten year old pair (actually a box with a picture of the shoes in the lid). They were being shipped to our home next Tuesday. She also gave me a Golf Galaxy gift card. Cool! I just might buy those new irons after all. We’ll see. Jacob and I hopped in the Honda and went to fetch Lindsey and the boys. Kelly wasn’t home – off spending Father’s Day with Al. Lindsey insisted I see how well her Knock Out rose bush was doing, the one we gifted her for Mother’s Day. Looking good in a patio pot. I couldn’t help but also notice the large piles of dog crap and the mud puddle off to the side full of baby mosquitoes. Ewh! We loaded everybody into the Honda and headed back to our house. Somehow our Florida trip came up. I believe Jacob shared the news. Rocky immediately asked if he could go. Not long after, Lindsey asked if we’d take her some year. She also promised Rocky that she’d take him someday. I kept my thoughts to myself. Believe me, I had a few of them. Lindsey went on about her mom and sister Courtney during the relatively brief drive home. We invited Courtney but weren’t holding our breath. Again, she’s apparently not speaking with us. The kids headed out to play as soon as we got home. It was just Mindy & I inside. I got nappy again on the sofa, but never did fall asleep. Sometime around 4pm Olivia and Ashley showed up. And not much later, Brother Tommy and Mathew (Wally) arrived. Dad was far behind either. Soon we had a house full. On the menu: fried chicken, brats, hot dogs, macaroni salad, and green beans. Mindy had been prepping food all afternoon. She even did the grilling. I didn’t have to do much of anything. That was a treat in and of itself. Mindy invited the neighbors to eat with us too. They came down just before dinner. I had the final round of the US Open whirling in the back ground. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods started off poorly after Saturday's dominant performance. I was hoping he’d win it, but it wasn’t to be. Mindy out did herself. The food was excellent. Ashley and Olivia presented me with a Father’s Day card. I teased Lindsey about not getting (or making) me one. Never does. Mindy apparently bought one for Rocky and Landon to give me. She pulled them off to the side and then had Rocky present me with a card to Grandpa on Father’s Day. Chrissy gave me a Father’s Day card, too. That was so nice! I was touched. We had a birthday card and gift ready for Kaileigh, but she had Father’s Day plans with Joey. Her birthday was last Wednesday. We called and talked with her. The kids gave Grandpa Glenn his card and gift too. After dinner I headed out to play with the kids. Both Landon and Olivia wanted to swing. I took turns pushing both in the baby tree swing, although Olivia now rides both. Sharing isn’t her strong suit. Just before we stopped playing on the tree swings, Rocky came down for one quick ride on the big swing. Long story short, he racked his “parts’ good somehow and was on the ground in tears. I felt for him. After playing with the little ones, I agreed to play baseball with all the others. Mindy was playing too. It was Jake, Jacob, Bella, Makayla, Lillian, Rocky, Evan, and Emily. I agreed to be all-time pitcher. We hadn’t been playing long when Mindy got slightly injured and stopped playing. A minute or two later, it was Rocky’s turn … again. This time, not paying attention, he walked right in the path of Evan’s ferocious swing of the bat and took the full brunt of it squarely in the rib cage. Now, he rarely cries, but believe me, he cried then. All of us cringed when we saw and heard it. It was a loud, solid blow. He’s one tough little cookie! He was back up and batting a minute or two later. Meanwhile, it was the two older boys against all the wee ones. They became incensed that I was ‘purposefully’ allowing the wee ones to score after dropping a number of throws and grounders. I was laughing so hard that it hurt. I think that Dad got a kick out of it too. Tommy helped some as well. He played catcher and coach while Wally & Landon played with the pugs in the neighbor’s yard. We played ball until well past 8pm. Afterwards, Jacob, Rocky, and Evan went to his house to jump on the trampoline. The wee ones, Landon and Olivia, wanted to go to. I walked down there and assisted them with a little jumping. They had a ball. They didn’t want to get out but I insisted. However, before heading back to our house, they stalled on Evan’s backyard playset going up and down the slide a number times. Suddenly, I spotted what looked like crap on the ladder to the slide. Landon fessed up that it was his! OMG! Just fell out of his pants. He kept right on playing. Holy Crap! I scooped it up and away with sand shovel from the nearby sand box. I hurried him home and then asked Mindy to please help - definitely not my forte. She did so happily!  The rest of the kids, meanwhile, were excited about having a fire on our pondside patio and making smores. I felt really bad when Rocky learned that we were taking he, Landon, and Olivia home before hand, He cried. He really needs a lot of love, attention, and some kid-type activities. Mindy agreed to take the kids home if I dealt with the fire. After helping Mindy safely load up the wee ones, I headed out back to prepare for a fire. I gathered the nearby kindling I’ve been keeping just for these events. I fetched some charcoal lighter fluid too (cheater fluid). As soon as I lit the fire the girls came a runnin’. I had to remind them that it would be a while before the coals were right for roasting marshmallows and making smores. In fact, I told them that we had to wait for Mindy’s return. There were seven of them: Jake, Jacob, Lillian, Emily, Evan, Makayla, and Bella. I knew better than to go it alone. Plus, I was really tired. Had I not promised Bella we’d have a fire twice before … Mindy got home about ten minutes later. THANK GOD! I had to go inside to request her presence. Said she didn’t realize I wanted her help. She was exhausted too, and rightfully so. We both were up too late drinking the night before, and then she cooked and entertained all day. I think we both felt a little overwhelmed with 7 kids gathered close together with pokey sticks around the small fire with flaming marshmallows. Well, it didn’t take long for a crisis. Jake dropped his flaming marshmallow on the leg of his sister, Lillian. Needless to say, she screamed to high heaven! Thinking quickly, Mindy ran in for an ice pack and other first-aid stuff. Mindy declared the event over almost before it got started. All the girls were very upset with the injury. But lucky for all of us, it turned out not being that bad – just a red spot on her foot. Mindy helped her home. While Mindy took care of the kids, I cleaned up the fire mess and carried in all the gear. It was well after 10pm. Mindy had the kids shower while I got ready for bed. We didn’t get to bed until almost 11pm.