Father/Daughter Retreat at Papa's Farm

Having pre-teen daughters can be challenging at times and having one on one time is hard to find especially in a busy family of 6. That being said Aaron decided that he needed a few days with the twins away from friends, cell phones, texting, etc and decided to take them to my Dad's farm about 2 hours from St. Louis. My Dad has a beautiful 110 acre farm with a horse, cattle, a gorgeous spring fed, crystal clear swimming hole, tall ridges, green pastures, big, beautiful trees and good ol' fashioned fun. They headed out bright and early ready to go. We were surprised at how receptive they were the idea of the Daddy Retreat. Aaron only had to promise Starbucks on the way and they were sold. They had a great time and did a ton of fun things while they were there. But most of all Aaron got to spend quality time with the girls. The bonus was Papa got to as well... he even commented on how much the girls talked and how funny they were! Here are a few highlights of the "retreat":

Aaron wanted the girls to have a few jobs when they were down there so my Dad came up with a few easy tasks for them. One was to pull some weeds. My Dad was very concerned that they didn't do too much work and wanted Aaron to make it clear to me that he didn't have them working the whole time. Funny how different it is when you are a Grandparent vs a Dad. I pulled about an acre of weeds every weekend and he sure didn't care then. I even had back surgery to prove it! :)

A trip to the farm would not be complete without a few driving lessons. I figure the more experience behind the wheel before turning 16 might make them better, more confident drivers. I know, wishful thinking!

A new experience that the girls had was shooting a 22 shotgun. They weren't too sure about this at first since I have always preached "Never touch a gun!" but they quickly got the hang of it and loved shooting the targets...they did pretty well! I am glad I wasn't there to witness this part of the trip.

My Dad had a fishing trip planned at his neighbor's lake. My Dad was giving the girl's instructions on how to really "tug on the line" when he got tangled in his line from tugging too hard. The girls thought this was the funniest moment of the trip. He is what you call a city fisherman!

My Dad has a favorite restaurant close to the farm which apparently serves the World's Best Omelets...pretty much a hole in the wall but great food!

They finished off the trip with a stop at Johnson Shut Ins. The girls said this was one of their favorite parts of the trip.

And so the retreat was a huge success and bonding occurred between father and daughter, grandpa and granddaughter and even son and father in law. This will need to be a tradition for years to come. Thanks Papa for your hospitality!