Father's Day picnics and singing cowboys on horses

Dear Lauren -
I had such a wonderful Fathers Day with you. I want to tell you about all the nice things that you made me, and what we did to celebrate - just the two of us.

First, on Friday when your mom dropped you off, we had a special dinner. Momma and Otto stayed, and we had David and Stephanie and Cole come over also. Stephanie was pregnant with their new baby, who will be a girl, but I don;t know what her name will be. Cole is your friend, here is a picture of Cole and you when you were about 2-1/2 years old.




We had fresh crab with melted butter, and salad (you hate salad), and green beans and corn on the cob. You like when I pick the crab out of its shell and give it to you for dipping in the melted butter. I don;t think that Otto had any crab, but your mother liked it. You were a big helper, and set the table. First you cleared off all the toys, and then spread out an old white sheet. We eat crab off of the coffee table in the living room, sitting on the floor. The sheet is for the melted butter. After dinner, you played trains with Cole, and David, Stephanie and I hung out and talked. It was a very fun night, we stayed up late and then had our stories ("I Love you, Stinky Face" and "Red is a Dragon") and songs (I don't remember exactly, but it was probably "A You're Adorable" and "Twinkle Little Star" two times.)

On Saturday, we played around the house a little bit and then went to visit my friend Alison (she has a cat named Blake that you played with). We also shopped for our picnic lunch for the play on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we drove up to Mill Valley, near Mt. Tamalpaias. We were going to see the Mountain Play, which is a musical play they do every year at an amphitheatre on top of Mt. Tam.




This year it was Oklahoma, and it was going to have real horses and carriages in it. We went to a place where we parked, and took a yellow school bus up the mountain with a bunch of other people.




We go to the play very early, so we could put our stuff in a good spot. Then we went to watch a puppet show about animals in a circus. They had a horse with a girl who cvould ride it, and a lion and an elephant. Some clowns too, but the horse was your favorite, and the lion and the elephant were tied for my favorite. We watched the puppets twice whele we waited for the play to start.

We got you a straw cowboy hat, which was good since it was very sunny. We had a lot of sunscreen too, so nobody got sunburned.

The play was very exciting. It started with a man, Curly, who rode in singing a song called "Oh, what a beautiful morning".




There was a lot of dancing, and horses. There was a stagecoach which came it with two horses pulling it. They driver of the stagecoach had to make the horses go backwards when he wanted them to turn around. it was great.

We ate our picnic lunch, and then we took the bus back down the mountain and drove home.

You were a great helper all day. You helped plan what we were going to have for lunch. You helped carry stuff. You helped pick out a spot to sit.

I really enjoy spending time with you. It's a lot of fun to do things with you, I like when you cuddle up next to me when you're sleepy and put your head on my shoulder. I like when we share things to eat. I like when we do things that make you happy.

Ohm I almost forgot to talk about all the nice things you made me. You made me a tile at a pottery shop that I can put hot things on. You made me a nice card which you wrote "Happy Father's Day" in. And, on the night befopre father's day, you made me a special picture. On one side there is a unicorn with sparkles all around it. He's jumping over a dolphin in the water. And, on the back were like 25 read hearts, as you always say "Hearts for 'I Love You'". You cut out some little shapes, hearts and triangles, and taped them in the corners. it was a very special present. I saved it.

I love you Lauren. You're growing up to be such a great little kid. I'm so happy and excited to see you grow. And I'm very lucky to be your daddy.

Love, Daddy
(2005-06-24)