Terrific Father's Day Weekend

This past weekend, we traveled to the Chicago area for a couple of different reasons. On Saturday, there was a lovely graveside interment service for Kathie's mother, followed by a luncheon for everyone attending. I took this picture of Kathie and Gail after the service. I know their mother would have been very proud of her two girls and their kind words of remembrance.

On Sunday, I was treated to a memorable Father's Day with Betsy and her family. After a breakfast outing, we all decided to walk to the city pool to enjoy the water and fun on such a warm day. Here are the three delightful grandchildren with whom I spent the day.

Frederick was eager for some swimming!

Henry and Clara showed Nana the big pool.

Pete chose not to go for the slow immersion approach to getting used to the water.

Henry had a fun little toy that he could toss into the pool and then recover by searching for it on the bottom with these goggles.

Dad helped Clara with some floating and paddling exercises. Or maybe he was just tickling her.

Betsy brought Frederick out for a dip too.

I don't know who this lumpy old guy is. Even though he claims not to be all that into swimming, he sure had fun with all the activities available at the pool and with the grandkids.

One of the features of this pool complex is a water slide. Henry and his mom are preparing here to descend using a two-person inner tube.

And here they are at the end of their run.

After some coercion, Henry got his grandfather to agree to try it with him. He said he had a much faster ride with the extra weight I brought to the experience.

Meanwhile, Clara tried out her own water slide in another area of the pool as well as other water toys.

Henry got ahead of us during the walk back home, and we found this awaiting us at the front door.

Later we enjoyed a cookout with Pete's folks. Frederick likes hanging out with his mom while she works in the kitchen.

Henry and Clara really got into a computer game that Nana brought along.

I enjoyed watching Frederick chew on this frozen washcloth, something his mom gives him to help with his teething. Soon he was throwing it on the floor, and as many times as I picked it up and put it back on his tray, he would throw it down again. This was clearly a "train Grandpa to do funny tricks" exercise. Maybe Betsy will post a movie of that. It became quite funny.

This is an old photo, but I throw it in to mention that on Monday I repaired a door on the wee house that I built for the kids a year ago. While I was doing that, Henry and Clara came up with a number of accessories for the house that we had to add as well, including a mailbox, a bulletin board, hanging a picture, and planning for some curtains (which I understand they worked on after we left).

All five of my kids took the time to call me and wish me well. One of the nicest Father's Days I can remember!