Father's Day, and bump goes the boy and tree

On Father's Day we did some of Peter's favorite activities. In the morning we found a new strawberry patch since the more popular ones either had limited hours or were closed due to heavy picking on Saturday. The new patch is a gem: clean, close by, and bountiful. Peter was thrilled and said that these sweet, juicy, and fragrant berries reminded him of ones we used to get at home. We shared fresh berries with two friends to celebrate the birth of their darling baby boy, Aidan.

In the evening we went to the Dairy Bar. After all those strawberries and ice cream, we ran about on campus as the heat and humidity of the day waned.

Nathan on his first bike! Popo and Goong-goong wanted to give Nathan a bike for his birthday, and after much research on Peter's part, we finally picked out this one. Nathan liked the color and flashy fender. He happily rode around with occasional pushes and pointers from Peter who reminisced about his adventure cycling days.

Okay, I thought it would be all right if I ran alongside Nathan on his bike while I pushed Maya in her stroller. Who knew that his feet would suddenly leave the pedals and the bike would hit the curb? He is laughing here, after many hugs from Maya and me. Fortunately he was wearing the multitude of pads given by athletic Aunt Sharon who sported quite a few bruises and scrapes in her youth. (We lived on a hill; imagine the difficulties in learning to bike and rollerskate.) Lessons learned: keep your feet on the pedals and leave the biking and driving lessons to Peter.

Peter bonded with our new neighbor by felling a tree together. Our former neighbors sold their home to their son who is taking on improvement projects enthusiastically. He began by taking down a dead tree on the property line. When Peter returned from work, he found that the tree base had been cut two-thirds in before our neighbor's chainsaw "broke." Out of self-preservation, since the tree would fall into our living room if a strong wind rose, Peter offered to help take down the rest of the tree. He also looked at our neighbor's chainsaw, tightened a bolt or something, and pointed out that it was empty of oil. Thus, Peter still reigns as Mr. Fix-it, a title he would gladly relinquish so he can go cycling with his son.