June with Henry

Last Wednesday evening was Henry's turn for June.  Henry got back to his trend of earlier in the year.  Not just Dinner with Dad but Dinner and ......

The dinner part was actually pretty quick.  Henry wanted to get on to the next event so he decided a quick dinner would be good - but he did not want "fast food."  So I looked in my Entertainment Book, found a coupon for Subway, suggested that and off we went.  I had my favorite Spicy Italian sub and Henry went with salami and lettuce - keep it simple :). 

Then it was off to the next event - the driving range.  Henry has been golfing for a few years now, loves the game and is now getting more interested in practicing and working on his swing.  Plus I was glad to go because lately I think I have struggled a bit on the course.  We both got a large bucket of balls, punched them out onto the range - some far ones and some just beyond three club lengths :).

That finished the original plans for the night but then Henry asked if we could do a round of mini-golf.  I thought that was a great idea so off we went to the waterfalls, tunnels and ramps (no windmills or clown's mouth on this course).  We played match play and let's just leave it at it was very very close.

Then since we already had some great fun on this beautiful somewhat warm summer evening I decided to surprise him with one more stop.  He actually guessed it on the way and I am guessing you can guess it too.  Nothing like having a nice big ice cream cone at the end of a great summer day and evening.  We headed off to Old Dutch Custard.  Henry went with the Creamy Vanilla and I tried something new - Cake Batter.  It was good, but not a flavor that will move into my top 5.

That wrapped up our night, home we went and pretty much straight to bed.  I know I slept well, I am guessing Henry did too.

Dinner, driving range, mini-golf and ice cream = $17.  Time with Henry = Priceless!

June with Brittany

Got a little behind on my blogging so this is the update from Dinner with Brittany from last Thursday.  As seems to be too often the case, but Brittany and I had a lot going on that night and dinner came and went all too fast.  And for the second time ARGH I fogot to take a picture.

Brit and I met at Noodles & Company.  I was in between work and heading out to Henry's baseball game.  Brittany got there a bit late because she was shopping for a wedding dress and of course saw one that she liked right before she was ready to leave.  Now that the date has been set for July 13, 2013, there is a lot of wedding planning and activities going on and so on top of work and school, Brit has lots more on her platter now.

So we talked about lots of the stuff we usually talk about, work, school, God, quirkiness of this world and so on.  And of course we shared some laughs about who knows what.

All too soon we had to each head off to our next stops.  In my last update I mentioned about how Sara's dinners were definitely the longest ones, Brit and I have had too many quick dinners due to our complicated schedules, so we will have to work on that for the next six Dinners with Dad for the second half of the year.

Ok, now for the sentimental part that I hesitated to put in here, but I think this is important for my kids to know and I would not have been able tell them about this verbally without blubbering.  As I drove from dinner to Henry's baseball game I heard the song Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman on K-Love.  I should have turned the channel instantly because I knew what was about to happen to me but instead I played the whole song and arrived at Henry's game with tears rolling down my face.  I cannot start to explain all the reasons why it choked me up so, but I know that other Dads, Moms, kids and especially MY kids will understand.  I love all four of you with ALL my heart and am so blessed by every minute I get to spend with you!

Dinner = $17  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

June with Sara

Well for the first time, we actually had to move the day for Sara's Dinner with Dad to the following Monday - the summer schedule gets pretty crowded.

Sara came to our house about 6pm, but we needed to wait for Glamma to get done with her water aerobics before we could head out so that she could babysit Rose.  So while we waited Sara and I had a cold one on the neighbors deck - nice chill down on a hot night.

So we finally headed out to dinner at Famous Dave's.  The nearest location was about 1/2 hour away so we had a nice drive in our new Suburban.  For dinner I had the Rib and Chicken combo, Sara had the Hot Link Sausage and Tips combo.  All I can say about the food is that it all was very good and there was LOTS of food.  Sara was smart enough to take some home while I for some reason felt like I needed to conquer the plate - Sara definitely made the better decision :).

Sara and I decided that our dates definitely had to be longest of all the kids.  It seems like our dates streched out for hours quite often while some of the other dates with the other kids weren't as long.  Even though this date was probably the longest of them all timewise, we never run out of things to talk about ranging from funny stuff, to politics to raising Rose to jobs to religion to relationships.  Sara has a lot going on that she thankfully shares with me and looks for advice.  Not sure I always give the best advice but either way I can tell she genuinely appreciates it.

By the time we got back home, Rose was asleep on Glamma's lap.  She was woken up to go home with Mom and we called it a night.

Dinner = $49.22.  Time with Sara = Priceless

June with Joe (and others)

Well, it's been a while since the last dinner with Dad and there have been a couple of new twists.  Technically last Thursday was a 5th Thursday of the month and should have been a dinner with my lovely wife Lisa.  But instead we spent the night burying a Suburban.  Ours 2001 Suburban is still hanging in there, but a bit worn and a bit unsure for another season of camping so we upped the vintage to a 2007 Suburban and are good to go.  Quite a bit more expensive than a dinner date, but it needed to be done.

As far as the June dinner with Joe (he missed May but we could make it up some day), it actually ended up being dinner with Joe and Dad and friends.

Joe moved his date back to Sunday.  Well after church Lisa and I talked about pulling some weeds and dead plants out of our landscaping.  Next thing you know we had Sara, Casey, Sara's friend Heidi and her Horticulturalist hubby Alex and Joe all over here either helping or at least giving "advice" from the sidelines.

By the time we got done moving all the plants 1) I was exhausted and 2) Lisa had prepared a fine dinner of barbecued shreded chicken.  I asked Joe if he minded having the whole gang joine us for dinner and he graciously agreed.

Joe and I did not get much time to talk until afer everyone else had left, but on the other hand I think Joe got a taste (pun intended) on what life was like at our house and how much fun it can be to be around family and friends.  I hope he shows up for more of these days and judging by the fun he had and the comments he made, I think he will be back soon.

Special note - thank you so much Alex, Casey and Henry for all your help - could not have done it without you!

Dinner = ???  Time with Joe (and the gang) = PRICELESS!

In the picture (L to R) - Alex, Rose, Casey, Joe, Me, Henry, Lisa, Sara and Heidi.