The Best Part of Father's Day

You know what the best part of Father's day is? Knowing I'm Arik and Juju's Dad. I guess that's a no-brainer.

This picture is a typical scene of our family room at around 7:30am just about any day of the week. I usually beat my kids out of bed in time to down at least one cup of coffee before, like me, they come stumbling downstairs in a sleepy stupor. The routine is pretty much the same. First one, usually Julia, then Arik crawl into my lap followed by Starbucks (our cat - not the coffee). There we sit, the Schneiders save one (Cathy's taking the picture) collectively waking up and talking about mostely silly stuff.

A common scene, no doubt, shared by families all over the world. But this is my family and these are my children and there's nothing common about that. They are God's treasures, entrusted into my care for but a time. How I love them, and what a privilege to have them call me.. "Dad".

To Arik and Julia, you are my heart and my joy.

We love Grandpa and Grandma

When Grandpa and Grandma travel from their home in Las Vegas to visit, you know it's going to be happy time!


Arik loves his Grandpa


Arik and Julia love their Grandparents. We never seem to have enough time together, so we make the most of the times, three or four a year, when we get together. On this trip, I asked my Dad how long it had been since he'd touched the Pacific Ocean. He just stared at me for minute, lost in thought, and finally said, "You know, it's been a long time". "I thought so", was my reply. "Let's see what we can do about that, especially since it was his 81st birthday. So we piled in the minivan and headed for the Laguna Beach. After a splended meal at the Beach House, a restaurant we first sampled in 1971 if you can believe that, we headed down to the sand.

Here's a sampling of some of the sights.



Grandma tries some ankle surfing



Juju loves the beach!



Cathy and Grandpa catching up



"And to think I could have bought this place for pocket change back in ....."


We love you Grandpa and Grandma and we'll see you soon in Vegas!