want to state this up front … this is NOT meant to knock the three AWESOME MOMS that were with us today in anyway / shape / or form … this was simply done from a father/son bonding thing, trust me, there’s absolutely NO WAY that this day wouldn’t have gone off as smoothly as it did without Jess, Destiny, and, of course, the bestest mom in the world, my beloved Toni !!!! … wow …. what a roller coaster of a day (pun intended!) you see what started off as a fun family trip to a theme park turned into a lesson for this ole guy that i’d like to pass along if you have a second … a couple of decades ago we’d taken our cousin to Sea World when he was just a wee lad and we were just starting off in our marriage, he had a great time and so did we … so much so that when Dylan entered our forever family, that’s the first theme park we introduced him to and, for years, it’s the one that we went to exclusively, heck, even doing a summer camp there one year!!!! now, fast forward a couple of decades and Tommy wants to share the experience with his little one, so, we all load up and head down … now, here’s the SSA, and, a proud father/grandfather/mentor moment …. watching two young fathers with their sons engaged, spending time with them, sharing past fun experiences and memories …. well, THAT’S what we, as teachers/mentors/parents and role models can only hope and pray to see when the next generation starts to take the “wheel” … Sea World looked a LOT different than it did two decades ago, just as some things about parenting does (who knew about all those microplastics!) but, there’s a lot of familiarity there too, like a “warm hug” 😊 … embracing the “old with the new” is, when you think about it, a lot like raising kids, there’s all of the new stuff but you don’t want to forget the past …. sure, we’ve learned a lot more about what’s good for you and bad for you, but, what goes into pappeye’s sausage gravy or why bacon still tastes best when it’s not too crunchy is still a thing! … wrapping up the ramblings of a crazy day with this, my pappeye once told me his number one goal on the planet was to make sure his kids were better parents than he was, and, if he did his job right, then, mom’s goal would be to make sure that i was a better parent than her (i think you get where i’m coming from here) … if we constantly teach our kids to be BETTER than we are, then, doesn’t that leave not only Sea World, but the Entire World in a better place 😊 (SEE what I did there) okokok, enough with the DAD jokes … ohh, did that go too far 😊 …

Bible Readings

Psalm 78:5-8 / Ephesians 6:1-4

Do you have any special places that you went as a child that you’d like to take your kids to ???

What made them special ??? was it the place, the time spent with family ???