Father's Day 2009

Raging Stallion sporting the stylish new Father's Day Retro Blues from June, Father's Day 2009. This was June's photograph, using original crop lines.

It's only fitting that I write this post. Maleen's still away in Washington, I miss her so. On this Father's Day, this father has all his girls. It's a handful, but luckily this father has strong hands.

On a side note, Maleen had already given me her Father's Day gift. (See "Tock to Me.")

I had Father's Day yesterday—I've always thought Saturday makes a better Father's Day anyway. (Who planned this for Sunday?) I awoke to a wonderful surprise hatched by my daughters: breakfast in bed. They had spoken with Mom and asked if they could prepare breakfast in bed for Dad. Undetoured by Mom's trip, they found a way to make it work. I'm led to believe that Mom helped them prepare the meal then hide it in an easily accessible location where it could be sought by small hands at the appropriate hour, and June was in charge of the hour.

Happily the hour was a normal one. I can only imagine her getting me up excitedly at 4:30 in the morning. So their surprise pulled off well and I enjoyed my breakfast in bed.

After breakfast it was time for presents. This is not something I planned for so well with Mother's Day, so I felt a little sheepishly guilty accepting presents after breakfast in bed. (Did I mention Maleen plans things way better than I do?) The girls were very excited to give me:

• a Shirt (from June)
• the game of Rook (from Robyn)
  
• the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (from Ivory)

Father's Day gifts after Father's Day breakfast in bed. My girls are pretty darned cute.

It was kind of a rainy day on Saturday—off and on. During the rainy time, we stayed in and watched a movie—one of my personal favorites: Three Amigos. (No, we did not watch Lord of the Rings—I have some scruples as a Father! Check in on Maleen's Dad, though, he showed her a *lot* of weird stuff. Her brain is totally warped because of it. But now that I think about it, it would take a very warped person to get along with me, so maybe I owe him a big thank you for warping her brain so!) Three Amigos is not exactly a kid's show and there are some parts that use a little harder language than I like my kids to be used to, but there we were relaxing on the couch: American Dad style. As a side note, I didn't think I had so much of the movie memorized; and if I did, I didn't think I'd be able to remember it after so many years...but that's the funny thing about movie quotes—they are always there! I enjoyed singing and quoting the lines to my daughters, though I'm not sure they appreciated the quotes as much as I did. There are so many good quotes from that movie!


Yes, the Three Amigos. Awesome movie. How else would you celebrate Father's Day?

My favorite quote:

El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?

Jefe: A what?

El Guapo: A *plethora*.

Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.

El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?

Jefe: Why, El Guapo?

El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?

Ah, the memories I'm making with my children!

Sometime in the morning, I did the only chore that is unquestionably mine (at least for the next four or five years): I mowed the lawn.

We did some cleaning, as I'm sure that's what Maleen would want me to do if she were here. (*Wink* to Maleen.) I didn't get as much cleaning done as I wanted to, or that Maleen would have wanted me to, so I guess I'll have to keep winking and hope she doesn't see the mess we've made.

We also went to Discovery Park. It was one of the things that the girls had wanted to do as part of their summer activities. For some reason or another, we hadn't been able to go the week we drew this one out of the jar, so I made good on it. We had loads of fun and Ivory discovered the tire swing and its accompanying bliss.


Ivory meets the tire swing. Ivory, Tire Swing. Tire Swing, Ivory. She loves that thing!

Daisy also had a great time at Discovery Park.


Daisy having fun in the bee hive at Discovery Park.

When the rain finally overran us, we headed for home and I made dinner. It was leftovers and my specialty: potatoes. June found my spuds particularly sculptable. She sculpted the taters into as many things as she could. This was one of her first creations. She calls it Potato Stained Glass. I think she may be destined to be a creative.


This is some of Dad showing through in her personality. Yes, I used to carve spud creations when I was a kid too, didn't you?

We ended the night with some talking and a lot of playing. I tried to work on the house, but I didn't have much luck. Maleen knows what I'm talking about.

And that's Father's Day. Tune in tomorrow (maybe) and I'll get Sunday, stake conference day, up on the blog too.