Yesterday was the first half of the Father's Day festivities, when we drove down for Richard's dad's combined birthday/Father's Day celebration. There was a delicious asparagus and mushroom frittata, followed by chocolate pound cake. There was much talking and laughing and opening of presents. And there was a cute new kitten to play with, since Richard's little sister finally got the cat she's been pining after for years. Roxie is a lanky little lynx point siamese mix with plenty of spunk (which she'll need to hold her own in a house with two fluffy little dogs). We dutifully provided implements of amusement (for both humans and kitten) by bringing with us a laser pointer and a crinkly catnip toy.

Today was Father's Day for my half of the family. It started with church, before which there was a hastily assembled choir rehearsal because even though our summer season has started and technically the choir was officially done until fall, some unexpected visitors to the church had the choir director leaving frantic phone calls to as many of us as he could reach. Then after church the weather was so beautiful that Richard and I decided we needed to go for a bike ride. We filled our Camelbaks with water, hopped on our bikes, and made it most of the way to Davis before it occurred to either one of us that we had neglected to put on sunscreen.

Yes, "ouch" would be the operative word here. How my face avoided frying I'll never know, but my arms and my legs could rival a lobster and Richard didn't fare much better. We very gingerly showered and changed and headed up to Napa for dinner, where I presented my dad with an appropriately humorous card, and then we all feasted on meat grilled on my brother-in-law's Father's Day present- a new gas grill. He noted with wry amusement that my sister gave him the choice of the grill or a flat screen monitor. I sympathized with such a difficult decision, as he is just as much of a computer nerd as Richard and I are.

And now we are home, where I am poking experimentally at my sunburn and hoping that if I drink enough water and slather on enough lotion in the next few days, it will not start to peel.