Last Free Flight for Penn, Part II

In the last post, I neglected to share anything about what's going on at the homefront!  Well, Douglas is of course doing a masterful job at keeping Koen and Tavin happy, fed and well-rested amidst lots of Daddy fun.  Wednesday night he got them to swimming lessons and then out for pizza.  On Thursday, Koen went to school and Tavin went to preschool and then to a friend's house for lunch and rest time.  That evening he made them a fun taco night dinner.  On Friday, Koen again had school and Doug had an eventful morning with Tavin with a dentist appointment and his regular appointment with Miss Christal at Children's.  They are quite a team!

During their morning outings, they stopped for gas and I got a text of this sweet little helper.  I'm pretty sure Friday mornings was a top 10 for Tav...just some Daddy time one-on-one, what else could be better for a four-year-old boy?

When Koen got home from school and Tavin was still napping, Doug and Koen set about making a fun feast for some friends Doug had invited over for the Pens playoff game that evening (the boys also were getting to stay up until 8pm to watch the first period!).  I face-timed with Koen while they were hard at work and he told me they were making "cold slop."  Doug had to translate Koen's misunderstanding of the food's name...coleslaw (although it is sort of a cold slop).  Clearly Doug was taking every opportunity to enjoy his time with his boys.  On Saturday morning he and the boys were part of a community work day through our church.  Their job was to go to Garfield Farm to serve.  They had Tav's buddy, Huck, along as he needed somewhere to hang that morning and Doug is just that awesome that on duty all on his lonesome he took on another little guy.  Apparently the morning went really well and Huck and Tav mostly played on this huge pile of mulch (see Huck, king of the mountain in the picture below).  I think Doug and Koen did some more practical tasks.

After the work day, Doug hosted Uncle Nate and his two boys who had also been "working" at the farm for lunch back at our place.  Seriously, the man is a champ!  I did receive an exhausted text after the eventful morning.  Hopefully Doug got a little nap in this afternoon.  I'll keep you posted on this adventurous Daddy and the fun he's having with his two biggest boys.

Now, back to my adventures with Penn Rye in Florida!  Well, we put up with some cooler than usual weather on Thursday and Friday, but it paid off because Saturday was beautiful!
The kids all slept well again (yay!) and then enjoyed another meal together side by side on booster row.

After I got Penn dressed, we pretty much spent the whole morning outside.  He did the swings, the slide, tossed the ball around, played on the back porch, etc.  While Elizabeth took her morning nap, I took Penn out for a stroll in the neighborhood.  I think the downtime did him good and I always love a walk!  After Elizabeth's nap, we all headed out onto the sailboat for Penn's first sailing voyage!  Again, I was curious as to his reaction, but again he was a big champ (Grampa should be so proud!).  At first he was tentative and sat on my lap.  Here are a few pictures from before lunch.

I had to catch a shot of the sails catching the wind.  Sailing is such a beautiful activity!

After lunch and some good sailing under his belt, Penn was ready to walk about and get his sea legs a bit.  He really did enjoy it although this is a bit of an uneasy face (but it's still so sweet of his little face, that I just had to post it).

Since it was past naptime already, Penn was getting slap happy.  Personally, I LOVE slap happy Penn.  In his exploring around the deck of the boat he discovered his reflection in this winch and then made funny faces at himself.  Hilarious!

It was the perfect sailing outing for 3 toddlers and particularly for Penn's first experience on a sailboat.  I absolutely loved it as I've been dreaming about sailing with Phil down here since he bought his boat.  And I can't wait for Tav and Koen to enjoy this experience as well.  They will love it too for sure.  (Can you tell I'm missing them?)

Well, stay tuned for more info on my little getaway with Penn.  We are having fantastic family fun in Florida with this final free flight! (That is some amazing alliteration.)