A REAL Day for Dad

My Dad loves using his imagination when it comes to thinking of creative things to do for “Date Night” with my Mom. He always says, “The best present you can give loved ones is your time.”

So I knew that for Father’s Day, he would really appreciate it if us kids also put together a unique day for him and Grampa without spending a lot of money and without watching TV!

It’s supposed to be great weather on Sunday,  so I know that both Dad and Grampa would want to be outside as much as possible and I also know Dad’s idea of a relaxing day is not to have to drive anywhere. All of us kids and Mom and Gramma had a family meeting last night and this is what we decided to do. We’ve planned out an entire family day in our own neighbourhood.

First of all, on Saturday evening, the boys are going to mow the lawns and do all the watering for both yards to make them all nice and ready to use and so that Dad can sleep in. Then on Sunday morning Boo Bear and I are going to set the picnic table for brunch and we’re going to cook homemade belgium waffles on the side burners of the barbecue. I’m using Gramma’s recipe and our camping begium waffle makers. We have an electric one in the house, but our camping waffle makers make the BEST waffles. The only thing is you need a gas burner for them, so the barbecue will work great for that. You preheat the iron on the burner, then put the waffle batter in, cook it on one side for 3 minutes, then flip it over and cook the other side for 3 minutes. The waffles turn out brown and crispy and delicious! Mom bought a big bag of frozen strawberries (which we will thaw of course) and some real whipping cream for us to whip up. We’ll serve the waffles with those and they will be just like gigantic strawberry shortcakes!

After brunch, the boys are going to take Dad and Grampa over to the school yard to play a couple of rounds of frisbee golf. My brother made up a course last month and Dad has said he wanted to try it out and Grampa too, so here’s a good opportunity for some “guy” time.

While they are doing that, BooBear and I are going to make some chocolate chip cookies, and when they come back from frisbee golf we’ll serve up some ice cold lemonade and warm cookies.

Then it’s the girls’ turn to spend time with Dad and Grampa. BooBear will play checkers with Grampa and Dad can relax in his hammock while I read some short stories out loud from “Chicken Soup for a Father’s Soul,” which I found at the second hand book store for Grampa. Dad loves listening to stories because he hardly ever has time to read, and his favourites are short stories. Grampa also says he loves to hear me read out loud.

In the meantime, my brothers are going to detail Dad and Grampa’s vehicles as their personal father’s day gifts. BooBear made scrap paper holders for Dad and Grampa from tissue boxes. I’ll admit that I splurged and bought Dad an audio book of James Herriot, “All Creatures Great and Small” from iTunes. It’s almost 16 hours of short stories that he can listen to on his ipod when he takes Indy for a walk, or if he just wants to relax in the hammock. I think he will really love it, and not only can he listen to the stories over and over again, but if we take a car trip, the whole family can listen to the stories with his ipod adapter that makes the sound go through the speakers.  

Gramma says she’s going to roast a turkey on the patio in her big roaster. For supper we’re going to have turkey bunwiches, which is Grampa’s favourite and Mom is making a big potato salad and green salad for the side. We’ll all eat outside together around the picnic table again and after supper we’re going to have a big family game of Pictionary - boys against the girls.

Gramma’s Pineapple Delight for an evening snack, and that will conclude our plan for a real “Father’s Day” for Dad and Grampa.