Daddy Daughter Day

For the last 8 months, my favorite day of the week has always been what quickly became known as Daddy Daughter Day. The first few were a little nerve racking for Jenn when she had to go back to work at the end of her maternity leave as we worried about not if I could care for Tenley but what antics we would get into. At the beginning, the days consisted of lots of time receiving daddy snuggles and praying she wouldn't poop until Jenn got home. Now she is getting more and more mobile every day which allows us to get out share our fun with the world.

This week was a little different. Instead of bubbles and reading time, we decided it was a great day to give back. We started by helping a close friend prepare a couple sets of wheels for the new United Althetic chairs to be used during the Monument Avenue 10k on Saturday.  

Then we made our way over to the 10k expo where I got to share my story and Cameron's mission with some good people. I was also able to get in a few hours of desert acclimation training on the trainer inside the sauna of the Arther Ashe Center. 

On Saturday morning, we extended the day a few hours while Jenn ran the 10k. While waiting for her, we made our way up to the SpeakUp cheer station for a little bit. I apologize to the runners of Richmond for not cheering louder. It seems someone finally found my mute button and I'm not sad about it. 

Instant Karma of Parenthood

The first couple of months of "parenthood" have provided Jenn and I quite the adventures and he/she won't arrive for four more months. A week from last Wednesday, Jenn and I had the opportunity to make sure Baby W was growing according to "plan" and also to find out the gender if we liked. We did like and we did find out.  

We were given a bracelet of a certain color. Blue for boy. Pink for girl. In an effort to announce the gender we each wanted to take different pictures with mine being featured in nature somehow. Last Sunday the weather was Spring like despite being a week from the official start of Spring when the weather would be winter-ish. Jenn and I leashed up the pups and started to hike towards the waterfall at the end of the creek which runs through our property.  

Jenn asked as we were heading out if I thought, snakes would be out yet because it had been warm for over a week. To be honest, I hadn't thought about it. I normally don't. Growing up playing in the woods, we didn't think about the dangers of what lay inside but we were aware of them. We woud run through them creating a ton of noise and we never had a problem. Now as I am old and almost a father, my mentality switched to that of a protector of sorts. Although, I knew full well they would be coming out very soon, I assured Jenn it would be fine.  

I took the lead and kept an eye on the trail and it's edges quite attentively. So much so, I do not really remember the hike to falls at all. We didn't see anything and arrived safe and sound. I handed Girlfriend off to Jenn so she could continue playing in the water with her brother in the creek. I kept my eye towards the trail when I saw what I was looking for the whole hike. 

He was just a couple of feet off the trail. It reminded me how aware you need to be when you are in someone else's house. Not being a huge fan of snakes, he definitely startled me. He didn't seem to mind that I was there so I left him alone and made my way by him while giving him plenty of space. You can't tell from the picture but it looked like he had recently eaten by a bulge in his belly. He didn't move a millimeter the whole time which was another clue he was digesting.   

Climbing up on the waterfall to accomplish the main goal of the trip, I thought about the reason we were there and how awesome it will be to bring a little one down there with us in the future. I thought about how excited I was to be a father. To teach them all the things, my father taught me about being in nature. How to have fun. How to survive. "Don't eat that!" "Snake! Run!" I mentioned earlier, we received a bracelet. That bracelet became the focus point of the picture we took that day. Jenn and I are excited to announce that Lil Baby W is a ...

After I snapped the picture we came for, I started to climb my way back down off the moss covered, water smoothed boulder and just about busted my tail. I landed very close to our new friend causing my eyes to pop out of my head in an Oh my god moment. He repayed the favor of me leaving him alone by leaving me alone. Instant karma. A lesson sure to be on the list of teachings.