As many of you know, yesterday marked the celebration of Father’s Day here in the US. And even though a certain someone forgot Mother’s Day last month, I still made sure to put in the effort for him on his day. After all, marriage means having to “forgive and forget” as the sage man from Taiwan told Ashley & Constantine on The Bachelor last week. Did anyone else find that conversation totally random and uncomfortable? Ah, the pleasures of trash television.

So I figured I should practice what The Bachelor preaches (where’s that sarcasm font again?) and devote some time and attention to Peter. He works hard to support our family, love and play with our children, believe in me, and put up with watching shows like The Bachelor. I guess he deserves a little special treatment. I happily obliged.

I started the traditional way by preparing a special breakfast for him. The man loves peanut butter. The man loves pancakes for breakfast. Peanut Butter Pancakes naturally made a perfect breakfast selection. And as luck would have it, we could easily adjust our standard pancake recipe to make a hearty peanut butter version.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 80 grams (about 1/3 cup) natural peanut butter <—I do grams so I can just measure the pb directly into my mixing bowl. It’s easier than trying to scoop it into a measuring cup and then get it all out of the measuring cup.

Mix the dry ingredients together (flour through salt). Whisk milk and peanut butter together. Add the wet to dry and stir until combined. The batter should be thicker than traditional pancake batter because of the peanut butter. Prepare pancakes as normal by dolloping even spoonfuls onto a hot griddle or pan. Cook for around 2 minutes per side. Makes 10-12 medium sized pancakes.

The pancakes came out perfectly. I prefer a hearty, dense pancake that will fill me up and these did just that. I topped the pancakes with maple syrup and served them alongside a simple fruit mix of bananas and strawberries. The flavors went so well together and the peanut butter flavor didn’t get lost in the pancakes. I loved taking a bite of pancake with a piece of the fruit, especially banana. Mmmmm!

Besides a special prepared breakfast, I also picked up a few items for Peter that I knew he would never buy himself even though he wanted/needed them – a new wallet and a new pair of jeans.

Originally, I had tried looking for tools and other man items that I have no clue what to look for in quality or price. I scratched that idea when he mentioned something a few weeks ago about needing new jeans. And then last week griped about his old wallet. Wallets and jeans I can figure out. Wood routers (????) not so much. I hate shopping for men, so I’m so thankful he gave me ideas I could handle. I’m also thankful for ideas that don’t mean the start of a new house project. 😉

Father’s Day celebrations continued with some stops to visit both of our parents. We only had time for a quick stop over to see Peter’s parents because we planned to spend as much time as we could with my family before my brother left to return to Arizona.

My brother planned a special meal for my dad – large and in charge burgers on the grill.

Typically, I’m not a huge burger person, but sometimes they sound so good. Yesterday was one of those times. I loaded up my burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, pepperjack cheese, ketchup, and mustard. Of course, a burger is nothing without chips or fries so I had to grab a nice sized handful of the barbecue kettle chips.

I think you could safely say that I ate well yesterday. Very well indeed. We can’t forget how the night finished now.

I secretly picked up a 2 slice pack of Edwards Key Lime Pie for Peter and I for dessert last night. For some reason, this standard, frozen, grocery-store pie delights Peter so much. Who am I to deny him his favorite dessert on Father’s Day? I only wish I had captured the surprised and overjoyed look on his face when I brought it out to him after dinner. We both get way too excited about dessert. A Happy Father’s Day indeed. I know I didn’t mind celebrating!

• Did you do anything special for Father’s Day?
• Do you find it hard to shop for guys? Any good man gift ideas you have come up with before?

Keep those entries for the Physique 57 giveaway coming! And hello to all the new faces I'm seeing in the comments. 🙂

I may have made up the word “fluboos”, but it fits really well with happenings going on yesterday. I mean - wouldn’t it figure that on one of the last days of our trip we faced storms? We missed out on any and all beach time because of rain and overcast yuckiness. Luckily, we had planned for such a rainy occasion and turned to Groupon to get us through.  We had a deal for two hours of unlimited bowling for up to 6 people to occupy us on a rainy day. We’ll just pretend the sun didn’t come out to play right when we decided to go, okay? That sun. What a jokester.

Even though we missed some extra beach time for an activity we very well could have done at home, all wasn’t lost. We got to have all the siblings together for our bowling fun. We have to take advantage of our time with my brother, since he returns to Arizona on Sunday night. We needed another occasion to nab as many Tommy-grabbing photos as possible. It’s our signature pose.

As for the actual bowling – I scored my best game ever!! A high score of 104! I even scored the first strike out of anyone. Go me.

We’ll just pretend we didn’t have the bumpers up for Makenzie.

Speaking of Makenzie, she enjoyed her first game of bowling so much!

Undoubtedly she is a child of the 21st century. Her statement on bowling? “Daddy, this is better than iPhone bowling”. I kid you not. She at least knows a real good time when she sees one though. And we had a great time.

After bowling, we knew we had to head back to the condo to quickly get ready for dinner. Upon arriving to our condo we quickly learned about vacation fluboo number two of the day. Our most favorite restaurant couldn’t fit our family in for dinner that night. Sad day!

We ended up at my G-Pa’s favorite place for round two of Stonewood.

Instead of feeling annoyed at having to hit up the same place just a few days after eating there, I decided to use it as an opportunity to try something new. I usually have favorites at each of the restaurants we visit and will never branch out on the menu for fear of ordering something that doesn’t live up to my favorites. I went the daring route tonight. And it paid off. Instead of a blueberry martini, bruschetta, and a filet dish…

…some cabernet to drink…

…some pretzel and cranberry bread to nibble…

…sharing an ahi tuna with asian slaw appetizer…

…and a steak salad as my entree.

The steak salad didn’t wow me. It tasted like any salad with mixed greens, blue cheese, walnuts, and meat I can find anywhere. The wine had no depth and tasted kind of cheap. The ahi tuna impressed me, though. I could have made that my meal with some of their creamed spinach I adore and called it a night. Even though I much prefer my typical choices, it felt nice to branch out.

Now, its time for me to live up my last day at the beach. Last day! Why do the good weeks always have to go so quickly?

• Do you have any “signature poses” for pictures?
• Do you have trouble ordering different things at restaurants?