Travel Log Day 14 - 11/28/11

Happy 62nd Dad

In the original thought process of this trip we would have been leaving today to drive home.  But November 28th is my Dad's birthday, so we adjusted the trip by one day.  I took my dad to breakfast at his friends Cafe, Stellar Beans Coffee.  It is a small cafe and my dad and I had a nice father and son moment.  We reflected on the fact that this would be our year when my dad is exactly twice as old as me, him being 62, and I turn 31 in a few weeks.  I am the youngest in the family and my dad had me at the same age I have a near 2 year old.  While my dad got married younger and had kids younger than me Cristina and I managed to have a busy family in a very short amount of time.

It is rare that as an adult you get much time with your parents alone.  Usually the kids/grandchildren are around, and being able to just have a moment is rare, given the challenge to get such moments it does make them rather sweet and I really had a nice time for our leisurely breakfast.

We returned home, packing and washing was big on our agenda, as well as a quick stop at Target.  My dad took Sean to the hardware store and spent an hour with just him on a "project."  A few days previous he had built a fun toy with Drew, and Sean was very much wanting to have the same fun and wasn't letting Grandpa off the hook till he built his project too.

The project

That night Mary Jo made chicken and Dumplings as well as a great apple cake my dad fell in love with in Germany, I can't remember the name.  The dumplings were cut up tortillas, an idea Mary Jo read about in a food magazine and they turned out awesome.  Dinner was so much fun with the kids amp'd about the birthday and just like that our last night in Lake Charles was here.

We relaxed and got ready for our early morning the next day.  While the plan in Lake Charles was a little out of my norm, I usually like to plan a lot of day trips and adventures, this week had been a special one for my family and we enjoyed it tremendously.  While I wish my kids liked the dogs more, and travel fatigue/sleep fatigue wasn't plaguing us, I have to admit when I first "thought" of this trip, this is very much what I had in mind.

Dads bday stellar beans chicken dumplings kids projects