Daddy's guest appearance

From Ryan...

So here I am with a long overdue cameo appearance on Adelaide's blog. The last 3 years have certainly been something and I really am lucky to be the father of such an awesome little girl. Coming back from a week at the beach and getting to have a wonderful Father's day before going back to work was a special treat. This was really the first year where Adelaide was excited to make Father's day special for me. She was even so generous as to let me watch the World Cup in the morning instead of her usual eye opener of Max & Ruby and Sponge Bob. That's pretty much how the day went, I relaxed, watch 3 games of the World Cup and capped it off with dinner of my new grill. It was a wonderful balance of relaxation and spending time with Stephanie and Adelaide. Part of what enabled this relaxation was a morning trip out by Adelaide and Stephanie to do some errands. Upon returning Adelaide was extremely excited to tell me she got me a card for my birthday and ran over to show me. Stephanie and I both protested, saying not to show it to me until my birthday. At first Ade put the card behind her back and she told me she got me an Elmo card. Then it became too much for her to bear and she had to show me. I looked away as she tried to show me, but she quickly shifted to remain in front of me... insisting that I look. Did I see it, maybe...

Adelaide and Stephanie had another surprise up their sleeves for my birthday a couple days later. Adelaide did a much better job keeping this one under wraps. I knew they got me a cake.. because of Adelaide (so maybe much better is a stretch), but the details remained a mystery. The morning of my birthday came and Adelaide finally was able to give me the Elmo card, she was overjoyed. My manager at work was nice enough to give me my birthday off, so while Adelaide was at school, and Stephanie was on conference calls, I was enjoying one the best soccer matches I've ever seen, the US extra time victory over Algeria to secure their group. As the work/school day can to a close, Stephanie was off to get Adelaide and my surprise cake before we went to Buffalo Wild Wings at my request of course. But... seemingly hours later, the door opens and Adelaide comes racing over to my chair and leaps right up. She was wasting no time, she needed to tell me right away that they got me a cake with "hot dogs and basketballs". Naturally, this is a surprise. I can honestly say I was not expecting a cake ... with "hot dogs and basketballs. It was in fact hot dogs andsoccer balls..... Adelaide made these selections because in her mind they are two of my favorite things. The selections were so obscure of course that the employee being told about this cake actual asked for confirmation that Stephanie was indeed serious with these selections. Of course Adelaide was serious and it was delicious. We might not have gone to Buffalo Wild Wings because it was too late (sushi was a good alternative and we went to Buffalo Wild Wings the next day), but Adelaide and Steph did a great job of making a very special couple days!