First, a very big Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!
Here’s a picture I like a lot of me and my Dad, taken on the roof of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN back in March:
And here’s one of my very favorite pics of Ivan with the boys:
This was taken two summers ago on a hike in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. I just have the best memories associated with this whole trip, and especially of watching the boys climb all over the rocks with their Dad. 🙂 They had SO MUCH FUN.
I have this picture on our refrigerator so I look at it all the time. (It’s very likely I might have shared this picture before! Sorry if this is a repeat… 🙂 )
Here’s a little different perspective of the scene…
No major exciting plans though this year for Father’s Day, unfortunately. Logistically it just didn’t work out, for various reasons.
1- Ivan’s little brother just flew in from Mexico on Thursday. He just turned 19 years old!! Ivan is the oldest of 6, and his brother is, obviously, the youngest. There is a pretty big spread between ALL of the kids anyway (3-4 years), and then this one you could call….an afterthought? We won’t call him an accident. 🙂 Hahaha.
But it is pretty funny that there is a 21 year spread between Ivan and his brother. (Remember Ivan just turned 40.)
He is staying for the whole rest of the summer! He just recently graduated from high school and wanted to come for a while to visit and just a change of pace, I guess. He’s been here several times in the past (usually with his Mom), but it’s been 3 years now since his last visit.
“The guys” are off to play a soccer game at 10 a.m. He is very easy going and happy to go with the flow, but hopefully we can squeeze in a few fun things for him while he’s here (thinking maybe a day at Six Flags Great America?). We warned him that we are busy with the boys’ camps/activities and whatnot, plus we WORK all day, but he still wanted to come. They have other family in the area, so we can pass him around, too. 🙂
2- Tomorrow is the day I head up to swim camp with Asher and his friend! I went grocery shopping yesterday and got food for lunches, snacks, etc. for the hotel and need to pack up everything today. We are leaving early tomorrow morning- around 6 am. I hope the boys have fun (and learn something).
His friend’s mom keeps calling me a “saint” for dealing with her son all week….lol! (I am only slightly concerned- he always seems like the nicest kid!!! Is there something about him I don’t know….??? Does he turn into a gremlin?? Hahaha! 🤔😂)
3- Since I’ll be gone until Thursday night, Ethan is going off to my parents’ house for the week! Ivan will be working everyday and busy, so this will keep Ethan occupied. He loves the 1:1 time anyway with my parents. They have big plans to do a bunch of golfing, I think. I’m sure my mom will take him swimming or to the scooter/skateboard park, for ice cream, etc. He will be spoiled silly, I’m sure, and will love every second. So, this afternoon I am driving Ethan to meet up with them (basically just hand him off), since I have things to do around here today.
We do have gifts for the Dads, and I made this strawberry cake dessert last night (THANK YOU to a friend/commenter who left the recipe in the comments the other day!). IT IS SOOOOOO GOOD!!! New favorite. Ivan loves berries, too, and thinks this is delicious. (We had to sample a little piece before bed last night…).
Before oven:
After oven:
(Today I need to bust out the vanilla ice cream. It will be delicious with ice cream!)
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for my amazing Dad, and that Ivan is also an amazing Dad to my boys. Happy Father’s Day!
GRATEFUL KAE 
I bet that kid will be great for you. We have been told by daycare that Paul is so well-behaved at school. They had no constructive feedback at conferences and said he’s a delight. At home? DIFFERENT STORY. The instructor for my 2nd time mom class told us that kids are usually most difficult for their parents and that it’s a sign they feel unconditionally loved. They don’t feel that around others/school teachers/etc so are on their best behavior. I was nervous about how Paul would be for my parents when I had my C-section. They said he was perfect. He went to bed easily, cleaned up his toys when asked, etc. We were like – who is this kid?? Ha.
That is a big age spread! We have a similar dynamic in our family – there is 17 years between oldest and youngest. The first 4 are close together and my younger sister was an ‘oops’ – she is 7 years younger than me. I hope his brother has a fun summer – I am sure he is just happy to have a change of scenery and doesn’t expect to be entertained! Your boys will probably like hanging w/ him, too! He may feel like more of a cousin to them than an uncle, though!
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I made the strawberry cake recipe after we picked strawberries this weekend (in MN) and it was great! So happy to have a way to use up what we pick each year so thank you for sharing.
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We loved it too!! I’m definitely going to make it again! ☺️☺️
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