Happy Birthday Dad W!

Back in early May, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday. We downplayed the whole thing to make it look like he was getting another tie (from my sister) and a "World's Greatest Dad" coffee mug (from me). The ruse was on! We ended up having his mom, dad, brother, three sisters, and a handful of friends join us for a surprise party on Friday night. The old guy didn't know what hit him - and had a great time.

The weekend didn't end there, as we went to Grant's Farm on Saturday morning and then had a nice dinner at my parents' place that night. Before I get to Grant's Farm, it is worth mentioning that my brother in law Todd can fire up a fantastic filet mignon.

Grant's Farm was a blast. By chance we were there one of the two weekends each year that Grant's house is open for tours. The guides said that they chose Mother's Day weekend because Grant and his wife (Julia Grant) only lived in the house for a couple of months, and then upgraded to Julia's parents' house (the White Haven plantation) after Julia's mother died. Yes, I know, a rather morbid reason to open the house for tours on Mother's Day weekend. I haven't ruled out that the guide was a habitual liar.

On an unrelated note, who knew that Julia Grant had crossed eyes?

Anyway, they had a nice setup around Grant's house - with some cannon and tents and teepees and other old-timey accessories. Kate was a fan of the Gatling gun and the teepees.

OK, maybe not so much the Gatling gun. But she did love the cannon. We could hear it all over the farm, and she would beam a smile and clap and ask for more each time they were fired. She does the same thing with thunder, and I have to remind her that "Daddy doesn't control the weather ... yet."

Of course, we had to feed the goats.



Then, on Sunday, we hit the town for a Mother's Day brunch. A wonderfully busy weekend!

My dad and I also had a fantastic time playing golf together the weekend before the surprise party. Highlights of the round included: the mom of one of the guys we were paired with showing up to ride along for 3-4 holes (looking a bit like a female Mick Jagger, but more worn); me hitting three houses on two shots, kudos to me for playing the angles on the 2-for-1 shot; and my dad hitting just about every fairway and playing some really consistent golf.

The best part of the entire round was when we looked at the scorecard at the end of the day and discovered that, in true father-son fashion, we'd ended with the same score.

Happy Birthday Dad.