Fathers Day Birthday

My dad and step-mom, Myron and Kathy, on Fathers Day.

He'll be 81 on September 4th!

21 June 2015

It was kind of great to have Mark here for Fathers Day this year. I don't think he's spent this day with our children since 2006, so it was pretty exciting for everyone.

It didn't start so great. Mark was scheduled to work from noon to 6:00 p.m. As you can imagine, Fathers Day is one of the busiest days of the year for Denny's. He didn't even have time to take a break. And Dylan had to work from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. so they pretty much missed each other all evening.

It all worked out, though. It gave Jacob, Danielle, and me a chance to drop by my dad's house and surprise him with a card and some chocolate chip cookies made from scratch by Jacob. We visited for about half an hour before we had to rush home and get dinner started.

Mark poses with his birthday cake and gets photo-bombed by his sons,

Jacob (whose birthday is 5 days away) and Dylan (whose birthday is 10 days away).

Meanwhile, Chris and Sarah had gone home from church to change clothes. They drive right past Denny's on their way to my house, so they volunteered to stop by and pick up Mark when they headed here for dinner. That left me free to work on baking four DiGiorno pizzas. That's what Mark had requested for his birthday dinner.

You see, not only was it Fathers Day, but it was also Mark's 47th birthday! He was born on June 21st, which occasionally falls on Fathers Day, whenever his birthday lands on a Sunday. That makes it extra-special!

Mark's pile of gifts.

After dinner, we waited until Dylan got home from work, just a few minutes after 9:00, before Mark started opening his presents. We were all anxious to see how he liked them. You see, the kids got together a week or two ago and plotted how to make this birthday unforgettable for their dad. They knew what he was dreaming of, and they delivered!

I told Mark to open mine first since it was the least exciting.

I'd decided it was time he had a shirt that was not black!

Sarah decorated the envelope for her "Daddy."

First, Dylan gave his dad a card, in which he had written:

"Happy birthday, Papi!! You and I are going to go get your fishing license!"

Buying his dad a fishing license was Dylan's idea and it got the ball rolling.

Then Jacob and Danielle gave him a nice fishing rod and reel.

You should have seen Mark's eyes light up when Jacob walked in with it.

We could barely get him to put it down to open the other gifts.

Finally, Sarah and Chris bought him a tackle box and a variety of lures, 

hooks, and bait, as well as pliers, fishing line, and so on.

Sarah just couldn't resist the singing fish.

You haven't lived until you've heard a fish crooning "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

In the end, Mark was exceedingly happy with his party and the gifts bestowed upon him by his doting children. He's already planning his first fishing outing... with his children, of course!

We ended the evening with a banana split ice cream cake, also requested by Mark. It was totally yummy. And so was the whole, delicious day!