Father's Day

When Aaron and I were dating we went to Aberdeen, and one Sunday after church we went to tour Liz and Darren's new house which was then under construction. There was a huge dirt pile. Aaron and I were in our Sunday clothes, but somehow we ended up over by the pile, and at one point Aaron picked up little Seth to help him or save his life or just because he was cute or something. His tie got really dirty, but he didn't seem to mind. I remember thinking that if Aaron didn't mind a kid getting his tie dirty, he would probably make a good dad someday.

And I was right!

We did a grumpy Father's Day picture first in order to get all of our grumpy faces out of the way.

I'm 89% sure this is the tie Aaron was wearing that day in Aberdeen.

I'm sure one thing our kids will remember about having Aaron as a dad is his engineer-ing-ness. Aaron loves to solve problems and build things and experiment. And he loves it when those around him want to join him in these endeavors. One such endeavor was the K'Nex bridge.

This Texas house has a high ceiling, and basically the day we moved in, Aaron started dreaming of building a bridge that went from the low side of the ceiling up to the loft. So, one Saturday in February, he started this project thinking it would be a fun way to fill an afternoon. And that he could complete it in one afternoon.

Not so. Not so. My theory is that since Aaron no longer had a PhD program overshadowing the future of his life, he decided to make the K'Nex bridge as a replacement.

Here's the first time we got it up. This happened only after it snapped in half mid-installation many, many times. This was in March. It stayed up for about half an hour before crashing.

Aaron thought this first attempt was too rigid. So our second (that stayed up long enough to take pictures) attempt was much more flexible.

This one didn't come crashing down until Aaron and I were falling asleep in bed, about 11 pm. So it stayed up for maybe two hours.

I have to include this picture from the second attempt because I want you to imagine me helping Aaron to hold this bridge up while he ran around getting things connected. Now imagine my arms going numb while holding them way above my head. Using brooms helped, but let me tell it wasn't easy to stand on an unstable couch cushion or the thin back ledge of the couch frame while stretching your arms out as far as they'll go and/or holding everything up with a broom. I was totally fine with our decor being dominated by Aaron's experiment. But being recruited for this holding chore was what turned me against the bridge project.

Yet, I dutifully carried on due to Aaron's dreams for success. Here is our third (or 9423rd) attempt. As of the writing of this post, it is still standing:

Even Aaron's dreams had to be adjusted a little bit, though. The bridge no longer goes all the way to the highest point of the ceiling. There is a suspension cable. And, one time, the whole structure started falling forward, so there is a strategically placed nail or two anchoring it to the wall.

Of course Aaron has even more ideas for how to make the bridge better and cooler. But for now he is satisfied enough. The kids don't have any k'nex to play with, but everybody oohs and aahs when they see it for the first time. Makes for a great focal point. We love our dad/hubby and are glad we could contribute to his happiness this year by helping his bridge dreams come true.