Father's Day

I made a mistake this year and thought Father's Day was the week before it really was. I sent Ed and Evelyn out with instructions "Stay away for at least 4 hours while I try to potty train Matilda." I'm so generous. Anyway, they were determined to have a good day. He and Evelyn went on a long bike ride along the river and then stopped at a park for a picnic of sandwiches, cookies and watermelon before heading home to find a frazzled mommy and a wet Matilda. It was not the most successful attempt at Father's Day or at potty training, so I was glad when my own dad informed me that I was a week early, so I had a chance to do it better.

Evelyn enjoying her pre-Father's Day picnic after a nice bike ride,

wearing an adorable dress from Great Aunt Mona

that was Matilda's last year--they're growing so fast!

For REAL Father's Day, we started celebrating on Saturday. We went out for a family breakfast downtown and then walked to Island Park to enjoy the nice weather and play with the girls. They were really excited to walk on the long bridge all the way across the river and they had a great time playing at the park.

On Sunday, we let Daddy sleep in while the girls and I went out to get some special treats for Daddy. When we got home, we made a special breakfast of poached eggs and smoked salmon on toasted english muffins with home made hollandaise sauce to start the day off right. Later, after nap, the girls signed a card for their daddy and thought up a list of their favorite things to do with Daddy that they wanted to thank him for. Then, we gave Daddy the cards and.....

ICE CREAM CAKE!!!!

Really digging into that ice cream cake--you can see why it was served outside

The girls really enjoyed that ice cream cake, too, and Matilda actually picked out the design all by herself--it was a rectangular white cake with a bright red border and 2 mini ice cream cones on top.

After the girls went to bed, Ed and I watched a movie together while enjoying grilled lobster tails, grilled steak and home made tarragon butter using fresh tarragon from our own garden. We even opened a bottle of champagne. It was a nice day for the best dad I could ever pick for my beautiful girls.

And, since Matilda didn't make it into this post yet, here's a random clip of another Daddy-Daugther's day out: