Father's Day

**I just saw this post sitting there, unpublished, from 6/19. Doh.

We kept it low-key to celebrate Big D with waffles in the morning followed by a fun celebration with swimming at my parents' house. The heat was intense, as we knew it would be, but we all stayed pleasantly cool in the pool. Even Baby Graham enjoyed splashing around and received his first dunk by his big brother.

We are oh-so-grateful to claim Dylan as ours. He is our guiding light and our protector. He is Gavin's biggest hero, and soon he'll be Graham's too, I'm sure. Watching him as a dad to our kids over the last (almost) 3 years has been magical. It's been such a wild ride, this parenthood thing, but there's nobody I'd rather have along for the ride than Dylan. It's not perfect all the time...ooooh no...it's chaotic and stressful and people are constantly losing it around here (myself included). But the good and the joy and the love FAR outweigh the chaos and stress and tantrums. Thank heavens for Dylan, who, at the end of the day can always share a hearty laugh with me about where we've been and how we got here and celebrate how fantastic it is. Happy Father's Day to our #1 Dad!

And, of course, we owe a "Happy Father's Day" to Papa Scott and Grandpa Tom. Gavin idolizes both of these guys. I've never seen anything sweeter than Gavin interacting with each of them. We are blessed beyond belief with all the fatherly figures in our families.

And, of course, this blog post would not be complete without some images from the last few days. I just wrapped up one of the larger logistical challenges I've encountered in a while in terms of packing up this family. When considering how much we can carry, how much we want to spend on checked bag fees, what we absolutely need to bring, what we can leave behind, what we can buy when we get there, and two different climates over three weeks, it was a bear. I'm sure I didn't do a perfect job, but I've been planning and prepping for almost a week. Somehow I found time to wrap up the night in front of my computer, and we are in good shape (I think)!

Thanks to our friend MRW for the awesome truck, which has made indoor playtime so much better during this hot summer!

We have a broccoli eater (for now...)

So full of smiles, all the time.

So proud of himself for sitting.

Cookie dough, breakfast of champions.

Father's Day breakfast

Opening gifts. Gavin made a tray at Dawn's house. She comes up with the best stuff!

When it's 147 degrees outside, there's not much else to do but laze around inside. Grateful for AC!

We also found time to take some selfies.

Gross, Gavin.

LOVE

And there you have it. Be back soon!