A Quick Getaway and Happy Father's Day!

Last Friday, Phil and I played hooky from work (ok we used our Personal Days) and took the littles to Great Wolf Lodge for a night.  On our way, we had to stop by one of our favorite ice cream places for professional purposes, obviously:

If Mocha Chip is on the menu, mocha chip is what I get!  The kids all got mocha chip as well because I've trained them right.  Phil had Chocolate Mint Oreo.  We had Kiddie sizes which were huge and cost $5.95 (The Cottage charges $4.50 for a similar sized small...just saying!)

These are the only two photos I got of our stay but just know that they had a good time :)  

Hey guys, stand awkwardly next to each other.

 I think it may be our last stay at a waterpark of this size because the kids are getting a little too old to enjoy it like they used to, which is a sad ending to that chapter of life.  They all still have tons of fun at huge outdoor waterparks, so the book is not quite finished.  Phil and I were thinking that the next time we go to GWL might be when we take our grandkids which is craaazy to think.

On Saturday after the Vigil Mass, we had our Father's Day dinner with lots of good food that I knew the fathers in particular would love.  

Father's Day minus two offspring (one was scooping and one was gallivanting).

We had to say goodbye begrudgingly to our priest friend (and Maggie's godfather) who is taking a new assignment as a professor and chaplain at Ave Maria Law School. Maggie packed him up some food and wrote a message:

The brussel sprouts did not convince him.

Sunday came and it was Father's Day!  Phil got some nice cards and gifts and felt all the love he deserves.  I thought Declan's 4th grade school-made tool box card was quite cute and clever:

The Ice Cream Cottage was a sponsor for our town's Father's Day 5k.  This year was their 50th anniversary and they had over 1300 runners!  

The back of the race shirt with our logo on the bottom right.

Phil ran the race with five of our kids plus Darian (Andrew's girlfriend and an employee) as Team Ice Cream Cottage and they all wore their shirts:

Only Eamon was running the race with a time goal.  He was hoping to get under 20 minutes and he nailed it!

I'm sorry you had to see that guys armpits.

Declan was our second fastest, but was not pleased with his time as he has run a 5k faster.  He also continues to manage to finish a race without getting photographed!  Is he in some witness protection program that I'm not aware of?  

You can see part of his body on the right of the man in front.  But here's proof he was running:

Phil ran by next, just happy to be done running in his new sneakers the kids gave him for Father's Day:

Xander casually ran by as if he had a lot of gas left in the tank:

Andrew and Darian ran together and poor D got sick and her shirt got tossed :(  But she finished!!

And I will not post a photo of Maggie or she will disown me and I would like to keep my status of mom of one daughter.  But here's her time:

One day she will laugh about her photos but today is not that day :)

This stud won a gift card for "Father with the most kids running the race"

It was really fun cheering everyone on, especially because my mom and dad came out to cheer as well.  I think JP and Brendan regretted not running this year and will run the race next year.  As for me, I ran my miles before the race because racing + me don't mix well and I know myself and what my nerves can't handle.

To keep the fun going on Father's Day, we went to the beach and happened to meet up with a friend and her two boys.  The kids actually swam in the cold water and we were all wiped out by the afternoon which was perfect and I was happy to have leftovers in the fridge!

Now it's back to work and only a couple days left of school for Phil and the high schoolers.  The finish line is near for this school year.  I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day!