JENNY AND LADD'S WEDDING

Garden casual, environmentally friendly, yard games galore!

Recruiting the kids to help draw child eyes to the camera

Giant bubbles (bigger than the kids!)

Me and my Jenny

The ceremony

LAVA BUTTE AND LAVA CAVE

TRAIL RUN ALONG THE DESCHUTES

Dude, my calf muscles are getting as big as Jay's!

Running endorphins are awesome

Somebody sure loved snuggling with PawPaw overnight while mommy and daddy partied it up at the social!

WEDDING EVENT #1: SOCIAL

Tagged with his relationship to Jenny :-)

Jenny and her best buds

My sweetie and I along the Deschutes River

HEADING NORTH

Dad with his long lost fraternal twin. Note the awesome shirt we got him for Father's Day.

Mt. Shasta! View from Weed, CA on a relatively clear day.

View of Shasta from the north side.

Napping through lunch. Yes, Cora is forward-facing on this trip. DVD viewing is very important for the sanity of the drivers...

Second lunch stop, for the kids.

WESTWARD BOUND

GROWING BABY DOLL

Stay tuned for more of Cora's 3-year portrait session...

SNO BIZ

 I took the kids to Sno Biz for the first time this summer. They loved climbing the step stool to order their flavors (watermelon for James, "pink" for Cora, which I translated to strawberry for the girl who took our order), sitting in the shade to eat/drink them, and people watch.

 There was a group of 3 high school girls (and one of their little brothers) that ordered right after us and sat at the picnic table in front of us (in the sun). James watched them intently as they attempted to get the perfect "girls of summer" picture for their Facebook/Twitter accounts, alternately changing the order they were sitting in, hair up vs. hair down, smiles vs. duck lips, etc. The little brother was very patient through all this and took many photos with their iPhones. When I knelt down in from of the kids and asked them to smile for a picture for daddy, this is what I got, James attempting to imitate the high school girls...

LUCKY KIDS

James and Cora really lucked out getting Jay as their daddy. He is fun and silly, patient (usually) and understanding, supportive and encouraging, sweet and sensitive (his heart literally melts for them), and willing to do whatever the kids ask of him (within reason). He takes them on adventures every week (while I'm at work in the afternoon, on my long days), whether it be swimming, to the park or library, or just hiking around the backyard hunting for animals and bugs. He reads to them every night, wrestles with them and chases them around to get their energy out, and sings them bedtime songs. He brushes their teeth and wipes their bottoms and lets Cora wash his hair. Our kids couldn't ask for a more devoted and caring father, and I am extremely grateful to have the partner that I do in this parenting adventure. Thank you, Jay, for being more than I ever could have hoped for in a father to my children, and a damn good husband as well. 

Happy Father's Day - I love you sweetie!