Mark's First Father's Day

What fun to celebrate Mark's first Father's Day this weekend! We had an awesome weekend together as a family. Mark got to choose all of our activities on Saturday, which included some fingerpainting and playing at the water table with Simon. On Sunday, we traveled to North Manchester to go to church and then over to Ossian for a family gathering at Mark's brother's house. We were on the road a lot on Sunday and Simon took it all in stride. He also slept nearly the entire drive home! But it was truly a fun weekend.

Mark has taken to fatherhood like a duck to water. He is so great with Simon. And Simon LOVES his Daddy. They are the best of friends. Mark is so good at knowing when it's ok to just let the fun happen and when Simon needs some boundaries. He's the one who puts him to sleep each night and is much better at getting up at night with Simon than I am. I love listening to Simon and Mark's 'conversations' -- it's so cute how Simon responds to Mark when he talks to him. Mark is patient, gentle, Simon's primary wrestling partner and race track builder. He is much better at saying no and sticking with it than me. (I tend to be a push-over when it comes to Simon -- sometimes that's ok but not always!) Simon wants to be where his Daddy is and his whole face lights up when Mark enters a room. Mark is just a natural at being a Dad.

For Mark's first Father's Day, he requested a tattoo. He is still considering his options but it will be something connected to Simon and our trip to Ethiopia. But I still wanted to give him a gift to mark this special day. So Simon and I painted the ultimate gift for a Dad ... a coffee mug! We went to Mommy and Me day at our local pottery place and had fun! Thank goodness for the kind woman who worked there. She helped me to get Simon's hand prints onto the mug.

And a few of my favorite photos of Mark and Simon ... at Columbian Park Zoo ...

Simon 'helping' Daddy in the kitchen ....

And visiting the Ponsler's at their camp site ... love this photo by Sarah!

Happy Father's Day, Mark! We love you very much!