Whimsical September

A Family + Lifestyle Blog

Uncategorized 4 Comments

Father’s Day Weekend 2015

I get such a high from good, clean, whole family fun, and this weekend was all about it!
On Saturday morning we were up at 7 and were quickly getting things together to get out the door. The Landers invited us to rent a boat with them for the morning to kick off Father’s Day weekend and their son’s 2nd birthday, and we jumped at the idea. The MWR marina was about a 40 minute drive, and because we planned to go boating before the kids’ afternoon nap time, we needed to start the day early.
The water was really choppy that morning, so we ended up renting a pontoon boat which worked out perfectly because it gave Hadley and Jack plenty of room to spread out and play.
The kids started out with their lifejackets on, but my child had a completely unexpected meltdown. MELT. DOWN. She had no problem wearing it at the beach in February when we went out on the boat, but this time around she wasn’t having it. I had a bit of a heart attack taking it off of her at first, but it was quickly obvious that unless all four of us completely ignored her that she wasn’t going anywhere. I still would have rathered she worn the life jacket! #momnerves

Her absolute favorite spot to sit was on Chris’s lap as his co-captain. I kept asking him if he minded that she was sitting with him, but he was so good with her and just let her have fun. Thanks, Chris!

Jack’s favorite spot most of the time was with mom. How fun are Meg’s sunglasses? Perfect summer shades!

Hadley and I both had ‘hat issues’ on the boat. She refused to keep any of the three that I brought on her head, so I lathered up her scalp with sunscreen (hence the insanely messy hair). On that note, if you have a hat suggestion for toddlers who hate wearing hats, I’m all ears in the comments section!
As for my own hat issue, I started the boat ride wearing a new-ish Old Navy fedora, but the breeze took it from my head and it sunk before we could get to it. Bummer. Three cheers that it was cheap!

Not pictured: our matching swim bottoms. Great minds think alike. 😉

Hadley finally let Jack have a turn as co-captain with his dad. 🙂

Jamie had a long week at work, so a morning out on the boat relaxing was just what the doctor ordered for him!

These two could eat their weight in strawberries. As soon as the berries came out, the kids made a beeline.

We love maxin’ and relaxin’ with Dad.

Jack’s last day of being a one year old! Big boy. 🙂

Meg and I were talking on the boat about how much more fun we were having with the kids along and how much they brighten our every day lives with happiness. I definitely went through a phase last spring/summer where I struggled adjusting to the new challenges parenthood brought, especially when it came to my social life. Now that I feel like we’re very comfortably in our parenting groove, I actually prefer having Hadley around because she truly does make everything just more light-hearted and entertaining. Watching her have fun on the boat was probably our favorite part of the whole day! Just want to offer a little bit of encouragement to any new moms who are struggling with similar feelings like I used to have. You’ll get in your groove, and things get so much easier!

The rest of the day Saturday was spent doing yard work, painting the basement guest room, grilling pizzas, and relaxing. 
Sunday was Father’s Day, and we loved celebrating our favorite guy around!
We gave Jamie his gifts on Thursday just because, but we held on to his cards until Sunday morning. 
While he went for a morning run, I whipped up some chocolate chip pancakes (his favorite breakfast). We had a small tub of sour cream that needed to be used up, so I found a fantastic sour cream pancake recipe that I used (found here). It’s definitely going to be our go-to pancake recipe from now on. So good!

Once Hadley finished her breakfast she climbed on the bench with us until we were done, too.

After breakfast we went to church and then ate lunch at the new Tallgrass Brewery Company here in Manhattan. The Landers joined us, and we had a good time celebrating our guys! I wanted to get a picture of just Jamie and Hadley, but she was having a major “cling to mama” moment. Nap time for you, kiddo.

She napped until 4:45 p.m. (we’re guessing there’s a growth spurt happening), so by the time she woke up it was time to start getting dinner ready.
Meg shared with us a delicious recipe they’d recently found, and Jamie immediately requested it for his Father’s Day dinner. It was a roasted vegetable salad with a cilantro-avocado dressing (recipe found here), and it was pretty darn incredible! Jamie could have eaten just the dressing alone. 😉

Jamie was also excited to use his new Bottle Breacher for the first time to crack open a beer with dinner. Have you entered yesterday’s giveaway to win one for yourself? Head on over to yesterday’s post and enter to win. It’s quick and easy to do.

A few days ago I was reading through my Father’s Day post from last year, and I just couldn’t believe how tiny Hadley was!

I took the above picture of her during dinner last year, so I decided to take another one this year to show her growth. Blows my mind how much she’s grown!

After Hadley had a chance to FaceTime with her grandparents one more time and horseplay with Dad just a bit more, we got her ready for bed and laid her down by 8. 

Overall we had a really nice family weekend. I hope you and your loved ones did as well!

Related Post: Jamie’s First Father’s Day 2014

[jetpack_subscription_form title=”SUBSCRIBE” subscribe_text=”Keep up with Erica & Whimsical September by receiving new post notifications in your inbox. This is the easiest way to never miss a new post! What they’re eating, what they’re doing, where they’re going… she shares it all!”]