Serendipitious Explorations on Father’s Day

I love being a dad.  I’ve told people that if I knew it was going to be this much fun, I’d have found my wife and married her a lot sooner.  I’ve been a Dad for over three years now.  It is a learning, growing experience.  I believe I’ve learned more in the past three years than I have in the entire 49+ I’ve been alive.  I cannot even begin to explain the love I have for my kids.

Today was my third Father’s Day, and the first one with two kids.  It was my son’s first Father’s Day.  Let me tell you, it started out great!

First, they let me sleep in until the crack of Noon.  Ah, sleep!  Then, as I stumbled from the bedroom, I smelled delicious peanut butter cookies, hot from the oven.  My daughter was so excited to share “her” creation with me that she ran right past me – forgetting the ritual good morning hug – and running straight to the cookies.  She was very excited!

Next we loaded up the car and headed out to Sauvies Island; a small farming community on a island in the Columbia River.  But we took the long way, up over the hillside overlooking Rainier.  From the top of Neer City Road we can see Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood.  (I took this photo with my phone.)

On Sauvies Island we went to the Pumpkin Patch Farm where we rode a very scary (literally) train which was being pulled by a large ATV, driven by a 15 year old girl with no fear for our safety.  We went on the inflatable slide, picked strawberries in the field (this brought back lots of childhood memories), looked at farm animals, and generally had a good time.

After that we drove on down to St. Johns, a small community in North Portland.  We ate a delicious dinner at Proper Eats, a vegan restaurant that had incredible food!  Raleigh was able to lie on the sidewalk next to us as we ate.  Our interest was piqued when we saw people carrying musical instruments into the cafe.  So we decided to check them out.  Boy, are we glad we did.

Blackberry Jam is an eclectic (is that word redundant in Portland?) group of musicians, young and old, male and female, they rotated around and took turns playing different instruments.  They played folk, blues, and bluegrass.  We had an absolutely great time.  It was the perfect musical venue for kids to be exposed to great music!

Afterward, we talked to the musicians and we’re going to see about getting them out to Columbia County.  They are good people and fun to be around.  As the leader of the groups labeled it, when he found out we stumbled across them, he called it serendipitous.

Driving home, I kept thanking my family for a great Father’s Day.  I feel spoiled.  I feel loved.  I feel rewarded.

I have come to realize that half the fun of a gift, is immersing myself in it, embracing it, and making myself available.  I don’t think I experienced times like that with my Dad, and I certainly don’t think I could be vulnerable enough to do this in my past.  It is a good feeling to be loved.  It is a good thing to be in the moment.  I love my adorable family – they are the best!