Father's Day - Year Five

This year, I decided that we were going to have a Boys Day Out at Griffith Park.  Knowing that John doesn't like surprises, I cleared the idea with him.  Initially, I wanted to hit Travel Town and the Merry Go Round, but he asked if we could go to the Griffith Park & Southern Railroad, the one that's next to the 5 and the Mullholland Fountain.  At first, I said no, but then I gave in.  We'd be in the area, so why not.  Mind you, I asked him on Thursday night and he kept on talking about it until today.  Actually, he was very upset that we couldn't go yesterday and decided that we should cancel our visit.  Lucky for him, Maureen and I are the BOSS!

So, we woke up this morning and decided to have breakfast at home to speed the process along.  I wanted to go to Charlie's at the Farmer's Market, but the boys wanted to go to Phil's.  The decision to stay home save me some money, so I'm ok with that.  I told John that he needed to poop before we left because I didn't want him pooping in the outdoor toilets.  He was worried that he wouldn't be able to go on command, but he came through like a champion!  

The drive to Griffith Park was a small bit of torture with John continually asking how much longer.  Thankfully, Nicholas was quiet and didn't ask questions.  He was just happy to be heading out.  As we arrived, John decided that he wanted to ride the ponies, but when the time came to ride the pony, he totally backed out.  He'd rather ride Aunt Patty's ponies in the mountains.

It was quite a marathon to hit the two train stations and the merry go round with all the construction around Griffith Park.  We had to take a detour into Toluca Lake and onto the 134.  The official detour had us exiting at Forrest Lawn, but that off-ramp was packed with all the people going to visit the cemetary.  Eventually, we found our way through Burbank and made it to Travel Town.  After that, we were headed off to visit Mami & Papi to drop off some cookies for Papi.

Sure enough, the boys had a blast.  Maureen was a trouper because she wasn't feeling well, but she made it through the day.  Was this something I really wanted to do?  Yes and no.  I didn't want to do it because driving around a park to get to three attractions isn't my kind of fun on a Sunday, but doing it for the boys is the reason to do it.  The looks and the smiles on their faces made my day.  I know they won't always want to hang out with me, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can.  I want them to remember a fun daddy who didn't always say, "NO NICHOLAS!" or "STOP IT JOHN!"  I want them to look back on these days and remember the fun of it all because it really is about them right now.  One day, I'll get the chance to talk to adults and watch  something other than Disney Jr or Nick Jr.

Yes, Nicholas did change hats during his train ride.