Father's Day

Here's Day 17 of Graeme's 365--soaking up attention from his dad on Father's Day. :)

I realized just now that I didn't call my own dad on Father's Day. Completely forgot in the rush of the day. Didn't send a card or a gift, either. Wow, that's super crappy of me. :/ I guess it is also indicative of our relationship. They don't make that card at Hallmark, the "you always focused on your own illness and seemed to want servants and nurses instead of children" or the "you didn't hide that you liked Matthew better" sentiments. :) Still, in all his tepid attempts at parenting, he never committed the sins of his father. He never abused us, never sought to break our spirits, never withheld an "I love you". :/ Father's Day. It's complicated, isn't it?

Sunday morning, the three of us strollered back to the big community yard sale's second day. Most of the sellers had restocked their booths, making it a different shopping experience than the dregs I'd been expecting. With the help of the boys, I managed to find some great things! For $8, we got:
* a plastic roadway playset with two trucks
* a Woodkins set--those little flat dolls you dress in scraps of fabric
* a pair of black hightop Converses for Graeme with flames on them. :D
* five or six nice shirts and pants for him
* a very Waldorf-y winter picture book
* a stunning cobalt blue glass altar bowl

Back home, we stopped to play for a few minutes before packing into the car to go to North Park Village Nature Center, a 40-acre retreat in the middle of the city. I'd signed Daniel up for a "Me and My Child" Father's Day hike, where the kids hiked around a little before stopping at a boggy marshy spot with buckets, nets, water droppers, and magnifying bug boxes to see just what was in that water. (It was amazing in a skin-crawling way.) :D I went along to take a ton of photos of the pair.

Half-starved, we stopped in Lincoln Square at Costello's sandwich shop. There was a folk music jam session going on with close to ten musicians sprawled across most of the available table space. (Banjo, guitars, fiddles, and even a cello!) Graeme took bites of my hummus and sprouts sandwich, adorably messy, and we all enjoyed it thoroughly.

We had a full, summery weekend. I hope your Summer Solstice was equally bright and celebratory. :)