Lets go fly a kite, and hope to not get a spider bite

Before I was competing in gymnastics, one of the things I cherished the most as a child, was the early Saturday morning outings that my Dad would take me on. He would take my little sister Amy and me to the zoo, science museums, parks, a lot of pet stores and always to 7-11 for a treat and gasoline for the lawn mower. We planted flowers together in the garden, and he would teach me all the names of the flowers. We went backpacking in the Utah mountains and he would tell me all the names of the plants, teach me how to fish and tell me how you could survive out there if you had too. I always looked forward to Saturday for these events. When I started competing in meets for gymnastics, my Dad would then sit threw endless hours of the meets, even though I know it had to get very boring. As an adult you can appreciate these things even more, when you realize how busy the life of a parent can be.

I am thankful to Kevin that he does this same Daddy daughter type of date with Brooke for at least an hour every Sat. as well. Kevin and Brooke do local things, like going to the " Junk Store " to buy records, going on treasure hunts, swimming, and fishing at the lake near our house. Of course Kevin's fishing is quite different than Dad's. The first time I went fishing with Kevin, we used a stick and tied fishing string and corn to it. Luckily he took us to a place where you catch a fish every two min. ( We also took the fish we named Briley home and put in the fish tank, and kept it for one year ) otherwise the corn and stick method, would have been a fishing failure.

Every few months, I get to share my Daddy Daughter experience with my own daughter. Grandpa Pack comes over early Sat. morning and Kevin, Brooke and now Will as well, all hop in the car with my Dad and I, for activities like breakfast, local fishing derby's, fishing in the lake near our house, and Breakfast with Santa.

This Saturday we flew an Ariel kite that Grandma and Grandpa had picked up at a specialty toy store,( since Grandma is always shopping for her grand-kids) early this week. The weather was nice, a little too windy for kite flying, but no matter, we entertained ourselves well. Brooke and Grandpa went looking for a stick to fix the other kite we had brought that was broken. Grandpa actually did fix the kite with a stick, and made his own tail for the kite, out of some near by trash. Brooke always Carries some sort of container every where we go. whether it be a purse, or bug container in this case, for treasure. She was collecting treasure rocks, when we came across two holes in the ground about the size of my fist. We all were calling out what we thought might live in the hole, when I got a stick and started jamming it hard into the hole. I screamed at the top of my lungs, which actually woke Will up from his nap in the stroller, when a huge tarantula started crawling up the stick I was holding. I really freaked Brooke out with my scream. I was holding Will and frantic Brooke, as Kevin and Grandpa caught the tarantula. We would have taken it home for a pet like the last one that Kevin caught, and kept for a few months, but Brooke was too worried about not being able to collect more treasure in her bucket. Brooke warmed up to the tarantula and was carrying it for a min. Then she decided she was going to shake the bucket and the spider started jumping and she ended up frantic in my arms again. We had fun taking pictures. then put the tarantula back in it's hole.

It was a great adventure with Grandpa Pack. I am grateful that my Dad showed me what kind of qualities I should look for in a husband and father for my children. There isn't anything that money can buy, that are as precious as memories, that are created by time spent together.