A Regular Wonderful Father's Day

We had the most wonderful Father's Day. JP was with us for the ENTIRE day- something we would have taken for granted only a few short weeks ago, but on Sunday felt like the most special, indulgent thing ever. The day began with Claire bursting in our room yelling, "Mommy, mommy, yook! You have to see this awesome thing!! It's so tool! Mommy you have to see!". She was talking about the reorganized rooms and even though I would have preferred to stay snuggled in JP's arms for a little while longer, I have to admit I was pretty excited to get another look at what the room fairy left behind for us.

(the reading nook and lamp in particular are huge hits)

We went to brunch at a nearby pancake house, stopped at Lowe's to buy toilet paper and trash bags for JP's pool, dropped by the pool so he could test the chemicals and drop off the tp, and continued home for yard work, house cleaning, and our own pool time. There was raking and sweeping, vacuuming and dusting, and LOTS of splashing and swimming. Even I got in the pool, just to prove to a skeptical Landon that yes, mommy can put her face all the way under water. After a few hours of pool time, both waterlogged kiddos took naps, so JP and I took ourselves to bed too. We ate a tasty dinner of grilled pork tenderloin (a JP fave), fresh veggies, crash hot potatoes, bread, and cake, and capped the whole day off with a family walk and Claire's first ride on her brand new big girl bike.

It was an absolutely regular day, but it was wonderful. Just having JP around for all of it- it makes everything better. He is my favorite person in the whole world and with him around I laugh more, relax more, and am just generally a better me (and mom). Even when all we're doing is buying economy packs of cheap toilet paper for his neighborhood pool and trying (unsuccessfully) to trim a small backyard tree into a perfectly even ball of leaves, it's better. The shared looks over the kids' heads when they're doing something particularly adorable or exasperating, the understanding that I will never empty a trashcan if he's on the premises, the readily available assistance with everything, the ability to just say things as they pop into my head because he's right nearby, and the way he never fails to reach out and brush or pat some part of me every time he walks by- I love having him home. And last night as we cuddled on the couch watching Mad Men, with his trusty QuickBook and Excel-sheet-laden computer temporarily sitting half-closed on the nearby love seat, I had the chance and the perspective to grab his hand and tell him so.

 

Today it was back to the grind- summer camp, school, work, swim lessons, dinner, dishes, bedtimes, bookkeeping and phone calls, but somehow knowing that this new schedule is starting to feel routine, even if it's an adjusted one (dinner is an hour later than it used to be, but we're all still eating together!), and JP's schedule is going to let us have a few days like Sunday, it doesn't feel as overwhelming as it did last week.

 

It was just a really lovely day.