.#13a - date (with dad).

last weekend my dad flew out to california. usually when my dad flies out to california it's because there's some family event (a wedding, funeral, graduation, party, etc.) or because he wants to cover all his bases and spend time with all the people he loves out here. not this time.

this time it was about spending time just with me.

i honestly cannot remember a time in my life where my dad and i have spent more than a day just the two of us. i mean, it's not that we don't like each other or don't want to, it's simply that we just don't make it a priority.

here's how we spent our weekend:


day 1: james taylor concert at the hollywood bowl with our dad/daughter friends, david & sydney

(and a few other fans)

there were this many people in the bowl that night and you know what? it didn't matter. not one bit. we had one of the best evenings we've ever had. we sang along with tunes he knew growing up & had passed on to me, we had pulled pork sandwiches and wine, we laughed at things happening around us without having to explain to each other what was so funny, we just enjoyed each other's presence. truly.


day 2: we drove to a little place that's becoming more and more dear to me - santa barbara and spent a day in santa rita hills doing some wine tasting, again something we both enjoy and have taken a bit of an interest in. it was fun to taste wines and then talk about our thoughts on them and my sweet, sweet dad purposely didn't take all of it home with him to texas :)

that night, we had an amazing seafood dinner with an ocean view and chatted about ministry, about the dairy business, about the upcoming weddings of my brothers and all the summer plans. and sunday morning, he came over for a breakfast burrito and i put him on a plane back to texas. our bellies, hearts and wine cellars content.


something i'm realizing is that when i was younger, i didn't think my dad and i had much in common because i wasn't much for hunting or fishing or working with cows, but the last 10 years or so i've come to discover that at the core of who we are, my dad and i are very much alike. our first love is Jesus and seeing the work of His kingdom done on earth, our second love is those he's put in our lives and our third love is good wine :)

so dad, here's to you: thanks for going out of your way to come into my world and spend the weekend with me. thanks for spoiling me rotten and for loving me well. i'm blessed beyond words to have you for a dad. check your calendar because once these wedding celebrations are done we're due for another mini-vacay, maybe a fishing trip to Alaska this time?