Every holiday in our house ends up being a bit of a scheduling nightmare – but we always end up having a great time!

It wasn’t our weekend with the Gabe, Zandra and Sam,  but we do get them on Father’s Day so I headed out to get them at 7:30am so Rob could sleep in:) He ended up going for a run too!

We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, while the kids gave him all their prezzies and cute cards.

I love how he takes the time to admire all the little drawings and details on all the cards and packaging!

This is his annoyed, “Stop taking pictures of me Leah” look:)

We went to church, as usual, and then headed home for a yummy Oriental Chicken Salad (will have to post recipe soon).

We then headed downtown to the “Exotic Car Show” which was happening – and Rob wanted to go. Unfortunately it was super crowded (the streets were closed so you just walked on a read carpet and looked at all the cars), but they got to see some cool cars.

Snapping away

Love the faces!

This was such a funny moment to catch on camera!

So everybody crowded in!

Josh had a practice, which meant the rest of the gang played some serious soccer at the park (ok – I admit, I played about 20 minutes, then was exhausted. Not exhausted as Zach was in having me on his team – apparently I’m not very good:))

Zach and Josh’s Dad met us there, and he ended up joining them and they all played together for while, and then Zach and Josh went home with him for the night.

The rest of us headed out for some Indian food, and a quiet relaxing evening!

All in all, it was a really nice Father’s Day. But how can it not be?

I have the most amazing husband in the world, who is by far, the most outstanding father around. I know everyone says that about their husbands/fathers, but I tell you, not many men can have 3 kids, and then so freely add 2 more under his wing years later.

The interesting thing about being a step parent, is that you get all the responsibility and hard work, but you have to do everything without the “official authority” (you really have no say on many things) and often without any kind of recognition or gratitude. It’s often looked at as a second rate position, “Oh you have 3 kids. The other two are only your step kids”.

However, this man of mine, has magnified his role as a Step Dad – just like he has as a Dad. The kids all adore him and love him. Most importantly, they feel his love constantly – as he shows it in his words and deeds. He is a man who walks his talk, and a man who leads by example. For that, I am forever grateful.

We don’t have a large extended family, and sadly the family we do have is quite distant. I would love for my children to be surrounded by loving aunts, uncles and cousins – but the reality is, they are not. While I feel very sad about that, I am thrilled with the fact that they lucked out with an amazing father/step father/father figure/role model as Rob. Rob is teaching them how to be good fathers one day. He is teaching them to love and support each other as siblings. He is teaching them to have strong characters and values. I tell Zandra all the time, “When you are older, you want a man like your Dad”, and I tell all the boys, “Be a man like your Dad/Rob”. And of course, I already know, I married a man like my Dad.

 Happy Father’s Day!