Jack's birthday and Father's Day

Yesterday was Jack’s birthday. Jack is the adorable son of my cousin Jenny and her husband, Sam. He is a cutie pie, as are his cousins, Logan and Landon (sons of Megan and Josh). His inchworm cake is in honor of his inchworm-style of crawling.


This is the kind of celebration I haven’t been to in years. Since I moved to New York, I’ve only been back for Christmas, a few weeks in the summer and occasionally a week in the spring. Usually I’m rushing around trying to see everyone (although this Christmas I arrived three days late and was promptly snowed in, so I was spared rushing around).

Being back for three months means I can go to most of the family gatherings and relax with my parents. It gives me a chance to feel like the new house is really my home. That said, I’m sure the summer will fly by before I achieve all I want to, and I’ll end up rushing around at the end.

Today is father’s day. We started off at church. Mom and I had assembled little presents for the fathers: “Happy Father’s Day” pencils tied with ribbons to a card with a poem on the virtues of fathers. Mom did a great job designing the card and picking out the pencils. People really liked them. Also, the minister has gotten his volume right. Christmas Eve I ended up putting Kleenex in my ears. This week it wasn’t necessary. Yay!

After church, we were invited to join Grandma, Grandpa, Jay, Dea, Jenny, Sam, Jack, Megan, Josh, Logan and Landon at Prairie Moon winery near Ames. Dad decided he wanted to stay home and do farm work and perhaps rest, but he told us to go ahead and go. We did, and had a lovely time. There was a three dollar cover to hear a local band play “new age” music (seemed like a standard jam band to me) and the price included a free glass of sangria.

I managed to get us a table under a skimpy tree (the good shade had already been claimed). Megan gave me some sunscreen so I didn’t turn into a lobster.

We had walking tacos (left over from Jack’s party), grapes, cheese, crackers and wine. My favorite was “honey moon,” a sweet, chilled red. Yum! Jack was fascinated by the bottle and tried to make a play for it. Logan and I played, and Landon let me take him for a walk. I had a great time. When I’m away, I miss having little kids around.

The winery found a special, comfy chair for grandpa, and grandma even relaxed quite a bit. Mom and I returned home happy and warmed in the sun to Dad, who was in the chair where we left him. He seemed happy from his day of relaxation, though he wished he’d gotten more done. Hee. Isn’t that always the way!