Father's Day has a host of awesome traditions, and one of the highlights is going to Rhode Island for Domenic, Jr. Father's Day cookout.  Part of it has to do with hanging out with the family.  Another part has to do with the Bouncy House he rents for the day.  The final part is, well...D'Aleno desserts.  You get all of the following in one place--a burger, sweaty semi-nauseous kids, and sugary treats that make the Ace of Cakes guy look like a chump.

This year was no different: burgers, sweaty kids, and an oreo on a stick covered in pink chocolate and confectionary confetti.  This year Isaac was finally old enough and big enough to get in the Bouncy House.  I say that because the Bouncy House is basically Thunderdome.  It is a rough and tumble place in there.  Kids discovered that you can run into the support pillars (filled with air) at full speed with zero effect.  They also discovered that pig piles, while fun on the ground, are awesome in the Bouncy House.  Isaac saw that fun and was understandably nurvous.  

I was cool with his hesitation, but I remember being a kid and being irrationally afraid of things and I don't want him to be that way.  I remember being afraid of the high dive at the local pool and getting hit by a baseball (despite playing for three years).  I understand that Isaac is going to be afraid of stuff, I just want to try to help him avoid as many of these fear sand pits as possible.  

As the day wrapped up and the big kids left the Bouncy House, Isaac slowly ventured over.  He didn't want to go in and then he did.  He would look in and then look at us.  Then all of sudden he got in.  At first he wasn't sure of himself.  Slowly, with the aid of his two cousins, he got in and started, well, bouncing.  It was awesome watching him conquer his fear.  There were a few moments of panic, but they subsided until, in the end, he didn't want to leave the Bouncy House.  

It was an awesome Father's Day and even better because I saw my little guy muster up some courage and fight back his fear.

There is a picture in Auntie Monica's wedding album that is really quite unusual.  In and amongst shots of the family, the of the wedding party, and of Auntie Monica looking radiant, is a shot of her shoes.  She really wanted those shoes, and while I may not understand shoes, I am sure she and many others think my flashlight collection is equally silly.  I don't get shoes, but I get getting what you want.  Isaac, on the other hand, might get the shoes.

This kid loves shoes.  Big shoes, little shoes; slow shoes, fast shoes; sandals, Keens, and Crocs...he loves them all.  After his 3 year old check up, which went very well except for the blood draw (which was awful, though not medically, just because it is a big needle in a little arm), he did not ask for toys or candy.  He asked for shoes.  Here are the shoes HE chose:

He loves going upstairs in his room and trying on all of his shoes.  He has a bunch of hand-me-down shoes and his own collection is growing quickly.  He even likes making line ups of his shoes.  Here are all of his downstairs shoes in a line up I helped arrange:

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, in this world more fun than playing with Isaac.  He is always game for adventure, doing things that are new, and doing things that are...well, slightly crazy.  You know, by now, that we do beards.  He loves the face paint beard.  But when we combine that with I-man's tendency to be very expressive you get pure photography gold.

The "Big Guys" t-shirt seals the deal.  He was giving me his most serious "mean face".  With the goatee he looks like a total bad a$$.  Or like Harold Sakata.  "Who?", you might ask.  This is who: