Father's Day

I was really struggling with what to get Dave's for Father's Day. I didn't want to get him any camera stuff....he has too much already and I wouldn't even know what he needed. We had been talking about a grill for a while, but I wasn't sure how he would feel about getting a grill. I KNOW how I would feel about getting a microwave or stove or any other cooking appliance for that matter on Mother's Day. I would NOT be happy. But I decided to run it by him and he was agreeable with the idea. I think I may have been more excited than him. We went Saturday night to pick one out and after complaining about the one at Sear's that has a tiny scratch and dent in it and NONE left in the box, we went to Fred's instead and got one in the box. (BTW...next time we purchase a grill, we will get the one already put together!! Lesson learned.) Dave and I put the grill together Sunday morning and there were only a few tussles with it, but we won. It now sits, looking fabulous, on our front porch.

We spent the day up at Jim and Jo's house helping them to get ready for Carmen's wedding. We ended up grilling out on their grill for lunch though. Dave was sorta sad leaving his at home to go use somebody elses. Turns out Jim's was identical to our new one. Did a trial run on his before we broke in ours. The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE it up there. They have a huge yard and swings and all sorts of things to do. Even Austin spent his day just running around the yard, investigating various plants and other objects. I did some time popping dandelions out of the ground. I can't understand not wanting to use some sort of chemical to get rid of them, but Jim is very opposed, so there Heather and I sat (Autumn did some time too) with a little tool, popping them out of the ground.....hoping the root came with. Every now and then Heather found a worm and would call the kids over to look at it and hold it. I was soooo glad I didn't find any worms, yuck! Then she would have the kids put them back in the ground so they wouldn't die. Brandon got to cut grass on the big riding lawn mower. He was pretty excited about that. We noticed after a while though that he was taking the same path over and over again and not cutting new grass. That had to be boring, the best part about cutting grass is actually seeing your progression. So Dave went out and gave him further direction on how to actually turn in a bit and cut the tall stuff. He only left a few strips here and there that Jim had to go over again. Autumn and Kristen helped Jo dye some fabric for the wedding. Not sure how that turned out but we will see on wedding day I suppose. Kristen also made some tiny ice cream cookies with vanilla wafers and strawberry ice cream for the rehearsal dinner. They looked very yummy and now I have a new idea for the kids. Overall it was very nice day. We helped get a lot accomplished and it was nice to just hang out and let the kids run.