For the dad’s who may be reading my blog (dad, Uncle Joe, Tim, anyone else?), I want to wish you all a very Happy Father’s Day! Your kids are so lucky to have such great dads!

(dad and his younger brother on the left and twin brother in the middle)

I feel especially lucky to have such a wonderful dad in my life. Although I have many of my mom’s qualities (planner, go-go-goer, etc.), I am SO like my dad in a lot of ways. First off, I’ve been told I look like him… this is still debatable, as I don’t think I look particularly that much like him (or anyone in my family, actually), but when you compare me to both mom and dad, it’s clear I look more like him than I do my mom.

My dad and I are also big-time list makers. He’s the one that taught me about adding completed things to my list just so I can cross them off (because how great is that feeling of crossing things off a list?!). I have to say, even though I love lists, I can still multi-task pretty well, but dad? Notsomuch.

“Let me put the wine down before I take the picture. Ok?”

We are also a little, well, intense. When we get something in our head, nothing can really stop us until we visit, build, buy, etc. whatever that “something” is. For instance, we have gone car shopping on 3 different occasions and on each occasion, I came with a new car that same day. Impulsive, much?

I got it in my head that I wanted to buy dad this jacket for Christmas, no matter what it cost.

I’d like to say I am just like my dad with gardening, but let’s be honest- his gardens are an “architectural masterpiece” (his words, not mine, although they are quite impressive!) and way better than mine.

Even though I am a total wine-o, dad has definitely got me beat, but that is the norm in my family! In my defense, he is retired so cocktail hour(s) is(are) daily for him. Sometimes we can even get him to dance after a couple of wines!

Or climb onto road statutes!

(Church Street in Burlington, VT. How we got him up there is still a question to me!)

We are both big lovers of seafood! Dad is the one I always call when I need help deciding on a fish and learning how to cook it- it’s pretty awesome that my dad loves to cook as much as my mom and I!

Over the years, my dad has taught me SO many things, and for that I am forever grateful. From building a doll bureau to gardening to investing in stocks to changing the oil and doing other maintenance up-keeps around the house, dad has always been there to help ME do these things, rather than just do it for me. Countless hours have been spent side by side with him over the years, learning all different things (some useful, some not): tapping trees and boiling sap to make maple syrup, plowing and driving a tractor, putting up window boxes on the house, starting a grill/fire in the fireplace/woodstove/fire pit, making bread & pork pies (holy yum!), fishing and gardening, just to name a few.

My dad is the first person I want to call when I have done something that I know will make him proud, only because I think he is harder to please than my mom, and hearing him praise me for my blog or work accomplishments is the best feeling in the world! So, dad, thank you for always being so supportive and offering your advice (even though sometimes I don’t want it and it makes me mad!) and just being there for me. Knowing you’d do anything for Danielle and me makes us feel like the luckiest girls around.

Happy Father’s Day, Papa Bear! I hope you enjoy your day and your pressure canner 😉 I love you!