Though Jack often is away at work, slaying dragons working to provide for his family, his heart is never far from us. Thankfully, we were able to celebrate a father’s day weekend in honor of him and all the other wonderful fathers and father figures in the world.
I told him I didn’t want to go camping unless we could finish the chicken coop. They were getting too big to live in the trough much longer and I didn’t want to leave them even partially unprotected, knowing the calamity a few hungry raccoons and foxes can cause. Sweet Jack worked with me past dark hammering up fencing, reinforcing it with rocks and knitting it all together with wire.
We were able to visit the temple down in Louisville, KY as a family. It is always sweet to be on temple grounds and be reminded families can be together forever.
We stopped at Hoosier National Forest off Lake Monroe and snagged a primitive yet swanky cabin right on the water. We hiked around a bit, fished and enjoyed the quiet scenery.
The girls insisted on swimming though there wasn’t a beach at the park we were stationed so we took a one lane back road, almost got rammed by some gorgeous free ranging cattle, made a few wrong turns and eventually found our way to Paynetown beach. The water was freezing and though I refused to get wet, Jack took the girls swimming until their teeth were chattering.
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| Evie likes her marshmallows BLACK. |
We warmed up by the fire and roasted marshmallows before a late bedtime. Jack gave us a good show, flinging a fiery marshmallow off his stick when he turned to see why Kate was crying. I even caught it on film.
I woke up early and read by the lakeshore while everyone else slept. When the girls finally did wake, Jack waited on us for breakfast and packed up while we ate.
Since we’d never been to Brown County park, we took a slight detour on the way home and stopped to hike around a tiny lake. I carried Kate since Jack’s back was still sore from hanging stones on the front of the house and Jack willingly took the dog. He won’t admit it, but he likes Raven too.
I spotted some tiny mudpuppies in a stream and in a matter of minutes, Jack had a one wriggling in his hands for the girls to see. Evelyn decided she wanted to catch one too and instead slid down the mud and soaked her socks in the stream.
While I was disgruntled by her echoing shrieks, Jack calmed her down by wiping the mud off and showing the girls the teeming life in the stream. Soon she forgot she was wet and miserable.
Sunday was fairly quiet–we welcomed a rest from the activity and excitement. Though the weekend was replete with adventure, it’s not at all atypical in a day in the life of Jack. He’s already off helping at a scout camp, probably having the time of his life showing those boys how to have an adventure.
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| All us girls are happy to have Jack! |
