Six Peeps

June 21, 2010

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Last night my dad came up from Monument, and we all went out to City Park for Jazz in the City for some jazz music and BBQ! I haven’t really seen my dad in a while because of busy schedules and other things so it was fun to hang out and in Denver this time! Usually I am going out to Monument.

I just gave a tribute to my mom, and a Father’s Day tribute to my dad is just as important. All my life, my dad is the guy that I have wanted to be like. As a little shaver I loved every second that I had with my dad. He was a navigator in the Air Force and as millions of AF brats know, a lot of your time with military dads are spent on vacations, as he was always bouncing around the globe. So whenever I was able to hang out with my dad, it was truly special!

Here we are at Keystone, hitting up the slopes.

This is kind of funny… Yesterday, on Father’s Day, I went out with MY son, too and by pure coincidence, my photo at the summit of Green Mountain in Boulder is strangely reminiscent of the above shot of my dad and I. Sorry dad, someday you just might get a “real” grandson out of me. For now you will have to settle with Gary. But I love Gary just like a son. I know. Sad. haha!

Sorry about the armpit in that photo. But Gary, my doberman is indeed like my son. He is my best friend and my faithful trail running partner. A very unique and special dog. We seem to have our own language.  Excuse my hair in both photos!

All my life I have loved hanging out with my dad.  Especially when it’s one-on-one.   As a kid, I loved cruising around in his red Fiat Convertible.  It looked just like this, and I remember clearly the night that he drove it off the lot:

Whether we were on a road trip to AZ or just cruising around the Air Force Academy, I loved listening to Steve Martin on the 8-Track with the top down.

I am going to load this post with a ton of visuals.  These are all icons that will forever make me think of my awesome childhood memories with my dad!

My dad would cry every time, from laughing soooo hard to Steve Martin.

As mentioned, I have a lot of fond memories of the US Air Force Academy, as my dad was stationed there and when we was somewhere else, we’d always stay at the VOQ (visiting officers quarters), and I still remember exactly how it smells, which I can only describe as “very sanitary”.

USAFA:

And the KC-135, the refueling tanker that my dad logged hundreds of hours inside…

Some of my greatest memories were at the park.  The one thing I love about my dad is that he appreciates the simple things in life:

BBQs: he had this old smokey joe and to this day, my favorite kind of grillin’ is from my very own smokey joe and I don’t think that will ever change.  The smell of it and even just the act of stacking charcoals and spraying them with lighter fluid and fanning the coals with a frisbee to keep them glowing… those are all things that make me feel good inside:

Kites:  My dad loves kites.  Just a long length of string attached to a plastic wing = hours of easy entertainment and lots of great memories.  This kite is like the one I am getting (I told LK about how my dad loves kites and I think she could tell that they represent special times with my dad and so she got me one for my birthday!)

Budweiser: When I was a kid, my dad and I would be working in the garage on either the car, or building a coffee table, or SOMETHING… and all I remember is that it was super hot outside and my dad would grab an ice cold budweiser and crack it open and down about 3 big gulps in a row and exclaim: “ahhhhhhh”.  He would let me have a sip under one condition: that I also follow up my sip with an “ahhhhhh”.  Now, as an adult I am an alcoholic!  (JUST KIDDING!!!! haha!)

Coca Cola:  I loved grilling with my dad.  It seemed we had steak like, every night of the week.  And he’d make home made fries that were so amazing and so our dinner would ultimately end up as a steak, salad (with olive oil and vinegar ONLY), fresh home cut fries… and coca cola.  My dad preferred to have Budweiser while working on projects or while out in the hot sun.  But for dinner it was always Coca-Cola!

And as mentioned in an earlier post, his old Olympus:

My dad used to drive me around as a kid and pretend that the car was driving itself.  He’d strain as he struggled to overpower the car’s steering wheel, only to lose the battle as the fiat would pull into a parking spot, right in front of a Dukin Donuts.  “Oh man, I guess the car wants us to have a donut”.  :

My dad and his buddy, Tom used to go sailing out on this sail boat in Virginia.  I always got to come and eventually he got a sailboat while stationed in Hawaii.

One day on a jog, my dad ran into some people who were following a hot air balloon called Quo Vadis.  He was instantly a part of their crew and for a while, hot air ballooning was a part of our weekend agenda

Another weekend tradition:

I could keep going, but I still have a few images to post from yesterday!

City Park on Sunday is always packed with people who come to listen to live Jazz music

And of course I am now an owner of a smokey joe grill. My dad brought the chicken and it sparked some serious nostalgia from our time, growing up. Some things never change!

For Father’s Day, LK, who works for a uniform company (in sales) was able to hook up a chef’s coat for my dad. And I also got him a plank cook book with some hickory planks so that he can start cooking some really healthy salmon and chicken on it!

So there you have it. Happy Father’s Day Mario. And Joseph, too who was also with us in spirit!

June 21, 2010 |