After our travel and our busy week, I was looking forward to a more relaxed weekend at home. Not much on the agenda besides a couple boat reservations through the boat club we are members of sounded like the perfect way to celebrate Father’s Day.

But first, a note on Father’s Day. Holidays after losing someone you love, I’ve observed, is so different for everyone. That makes sense because grief itself personal. This was my third Father’s Day without my dad. I did feel some pangs of wishing I could call him and enthuse a “Happy happy father’s day Daddio!” which as cheesy as it sounds would have been exactly how I would have said it. I can imagine almost exactly how our whole conversation would have gone- a mushy moment of gratitude and pride, a rundown of the days’ events, most likely golf with mom and then home to enjoy an evening in “paradise” (what he affectionately referred to their dream home as).

I hope I can always so vividly imagine our conversations. Of course I thought about him, and talked to him in my own way, yesterday, but I wasn’t distraught. The harder moments for me tend to be random ones, like hearing a special song while experiencing something in life I wish I could have shared with him. Or feeling nostalgic and wondering what thoughts were going through his head when my brother and I were the ages my kids are now. I’m no stranger to falling down the rabbit hole of missing someone, but yesterday I felt primarily thankfulness that I not only had the most incredible, present, engaged dad, but that I married a man that shows up for his family in the same way.

Yes, yesterday I was grateful to celebrate David, the incredible partner I get to do this parenting journey with. I really couldn’t ask for a more steady, patient, loving, adventurous, rock and guiding force for our family. My depth of appreciation for that isn’t lost on me.

I love holidays that put the focus on a special person that deserves recognition, but know they simultaneously can cause strain on people that have lost that person, never had a relationship with that person, never knew that person, are still looking for that person, or have a complex situation that you can’t find on a Hallmark card. If that’s you, I see you and pray for you, friend.

If you’re lucky to have someone to celebrate, may we do it well and honor their importance in our lives. <3

That turned into way more of a tangent than I anticipated! Can I share some weekend pictures, too? Friday afternoon I had a long overdue hair appointment, where I went back dark, and I love it. Then I met David and the girls at our friends house for a delicious spread of summer foods and a night of swimming.

On Saturday we enjoyed a leisurely morning, got in a workout, then headed to the boat after lunch. We had secured a surf boat for the day and after our first attempt a couple weeks ago, we were determined to get everyone at least up on the board.

We swung by and picked up some friends to join us on the gorgeous day. I was the first one on the board and got up pretty easily. I still can’t figure out how to get in the wave and drop the rope, but I’m making progress. I stayed in the water and helped all the kids get set up and by the end of the time, they all had at least gotten up on the board, which felt like a huge win! It might have only been for a few seconds, but still- a win! David got up and made it look easy. He was even able to drop the rope for a bit of it. It was such a blast!

We dropped our friends off around dinnertime but we weren’t ready to head back quite yet so we ordered Marco’s pizza to be delivered to the marina, swung by to pick it up, and then headed back on the water to eat. It was such a fun day!

Sunday was wonderful and relaxing. David and I took a long walk with Finley, then headed back on the lake, this time with a ski boat. The lake was super slammed but we found a cove where we could take the kids tubing and Hailey knee boarding. Hailey loved it all so much and was pretty bummed when we told her the lake was just too busy to continue.

We got home late afternoon and David relaxed outside while I made dinner and Hailey baked a cake. We opened cards, then David went on the elaborate scavenger hunt Hailey has prepared, which ended in his gift- an IceMule Pro Cooler for adventuring… with cold beverages and food!

We then ate dinner and played a game of Trekking the World (which I highly recommend for ages 8+, especially if you like Catan or Ticket to Ride). We tucked the kids in soon afetrwards because they have a full week of camp coming up. I packed their lunches but am thinking we need bigger lunch boxes before we start co-op in the fall- any recommendations for big kid lunch boxes?

I hope you had a lovely weekend and that your Monday is off to a great start!