Turn About As Fair Play

Thatboy planned a phenomenal day for me on Mother's Day, so I wanted to give him something similar.  When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said his ideal Father's Day would be a day at the beach with all of us. 

He got a head start on the weekend when Thatbaby's daycare provided him with his first father's day gift.  They are far better at getting handprints than we are.  And they also had a more success with finger painting than our at-home experience.

We started off the morning at Original Pancake House for breakfast, since it's Thatboy's favorite breakfast place.  He had his usual giant pancakes, cutting off some for Thatbaby who also had some egg.

And then it was off to the beach.  Thatbaby could hardly contain his excitement for his first beach day.

Thatboy headed out to surf, while Thatbaby, Thatdog and I played in the sand.  Thatbaby pulled his "saddest baby in the world" routine when I wouldn't let him eat the seed pods that dot the beach.  One of these days I have to get video of it.  It involves a pout, a wail, and him throwing his body into the ground.

When That boy returned from his surf session, he brought Thatbaby out to the water.

This lasted just long enough for that wave to roll in.  The Pacific Ocean?  She's cold.  And Thatbaby is a delicate flower. 

When it started getting late we packed up and headed home.  We cleaned ourselves up and headed to Thatboy's favorite restaurant.  There's nothing he doesn't like about this place, from the very first plate of bread that's set on the table.  That's right we go through more than one plate of bread.

I haven't quite mastered their fantastic bread - warm and herby.  But this one is pretty popular in my house.  And setting it on the table: warm with butter melting off of it, can elicit similar happiness.

Water Bread and Rolls (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp shortening

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 pkg yeast

6 cups white bread

1. Mix the butter, shortening, sugar and salt in a large bowl. 
2. Bring 2 ups water to a boil, add it to mixture and let cool to lukewarm.  
3. Measure 1/4 cup warm water in a separate container, add the yeast and let it stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.  
4. Add the dissolved yeast and 5 cups of the flour to the first mixture and mix thoroughly.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board and let rest for about 10 minutes.  
5. Adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary, knead until smooth and elastic.  Place the dough in a large, buttered bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.  
6. Punch the dough down and knead it once or twice.  Half-fill a buttered loaf pan; bread the remaining dough into pieces the size of small lemons and arrange them, sides touching, on a  buttered 9 inch pie plate.  Cover the pan and the pie plate and let the dough double in bulk once again.  
7. Preheat the oven to 375.  Bake bread, allowing about 25 minutes for the rolls and about 45 minutes for the loaf.  Removed from pans and cool on racks.