The Dad Life

Pretty much nails it. And those Dads out there that "will never get a minivan", I'm telling you, they're awesome and you're not fooling anyone in that SUV. Thanks to Eric Penne for sending me this.

Yeahhhhh......

We decided to stay home for the 4th of July. We missed being with family and stuff, but it was nice to stay home too. For one thing, we got some things done we needed to around here that otherwise may have gone overlooked with disastrous results. First, we had sump pump problems on Wednesday. It wasn't the pump itself, but the results were that the pump itself (that appears to be the original from when the house was built) ran for gawd knows how long. After I got all the water going where it needed to go, the pump still worked but not as good as it should have. So on the way home from the Farmer's Market on Saturday, we stopped at Menards to pick one up. Now, granted I have no spare money to spend on shit like this, but even if I did, I hate spending money on shit like this. At least the labor end of it is an easy job.

Speaking of the farmers market, we got some good veggies and potatoes for dinner on Saturday night. I'm glad they were good, because the market itself was so packed it was barely worth the trip. It's awesome seeing all the people out and about and I love the fresh produce and supporting local folks, but Cedar Rapids has to rethink some crowd control issues. The girls got some free baloons and stickers, so they were good to go.

Saturday afternoon we hit the renowned Marion public pool. It's an awesome pool, it really is. It has a 1 ft deep baby pool. A 2 ft deep toddler pool with a slide. A splash pad and an olympic size pool. But, what gets me is you'd think with a budding suburb (hee hee) like Marion would have less of this:

and more of this:

But that just simply isn't the case. So folks, in the event you need to feel good about yourselves, I invite you to attend two different places. The Iowa State Fair, or your local swimming pool. I'd still call it a perfect summer place if they'd let me bring in my camping grill and some beers. Again though, the girls had a great time. We had to drag Ellen out. Literally.

When we got home we fired up the grill and cooked the aforementioned veggies and some wonderfully marinated (by me) steaks. I seared them just right and cooked em slow. De-freakin-licious. I got a fire going later and Mara joined me for some smores. The neighbor's grandkids came over too. It was cool.

Sunday morning I got out for a ride at Beverly. A good way to kick of Independence Day for sure. I had a better morning than Norbert:

By the way, for those of you who are dorks like me, who drool over this pic almost as much as the one preceding it, that is indeed a 1992 Klein Attitude with an integrated headset / stem / handlebar. That might be the coolest bike that has ever graced the trails of Beverly Park. Of course, the fact that it's converted to a singlespeed doesn't hurt either.

I got another bike ride in later too with Ellen. That was a different kind of ride, but just as rewarding if not moreso:

The night of the 4th we got together with our friends Roy and Monique. They have a little girl that's 4 years old and her and the girls play really well together. It's always a good time. Roy is currently mastering the art of smoking brisket. We got to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Combine that with a beer potluck, some well-behaved children (I know it's rare but it happens) and you have a great night.