Tag Archives: beer

Still No Giant Tortoise for Father’s Day

06/22/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Last Father’s Day, the first one I celebrated, I had a tiny idea that my wife and mom teamed up to get me a giant tortoise as a gift. If the title confuses you, last year’s post was No Giant Tortoise for Father’s Day, so adding “Still” to my Father’s Day post this year seemed the only logical thing to do.

Unlike last year, I had no reason to believe I would get a giant tortoise for my 2nd Father’s Day celebration. Honestly, I have no clue what I would do with a giant tortoise in our back yard. I guess I’ll cancel my order for this sign though…*sigh*

Actually, if anything, I’d be happy to have less pets. For whatever reason, our Golden Retriever, Abby, and fat black cat, Lou, get on my nerves and are the main reason I vacuum at least twice a day. But Kelley loves them and as long as they make her happy (for the most part), they stay.

Enough about what I didn’t get for Father’s Day, as it was anything but disappointing. We started with Avery waking up earlier than usual (no surprise) and Going Mom making two big batches of French Press coffee. She could’ve stopped there and I would’ve been set for my gifts. #CoffeeAddict

Even on Father’s Day, I like to keep my kitchen duty, so I had a big bowl of blueberry NuttZo oatmeal made for my girls. As they filled their bellies with goodness, I prepped the slow-cooker with a healthy mix of tomatoes, kidney beans, zucchini from our garden, cubed potatoes, onions, and garlic with wild cod on top.

This lets me make one vegetarian meal with beans only, and then another one with the fish. Love the slow-cooker! As I finished prepping, Avery ran around the home and thought Mommy would like several of her sleep pants brought to her.

So thoughtful.

Afterward, we went to the garage where Kelley cut my hair. It was much needed and I think we both agree was the best job she’s done yet! I never complained about the others though, I’m just happy to have shorter hair. Just like my hair, our lawn needed a cut too, so I took care of that rather quickly thanks to our EGO.

Glad I have Avery to turn on the headlights for me!

Feeling extra itchy from my hair and the grass stuck on me, I ran to our neighborhood pool ahead of Kelley and Avery to swim a few laps until they got there. A “few” turned into 1000 meters until they arrived which was more than I’ve done swimming in a long time. Felt good though.

Then we hung out in the kiddie pool and watched Avery walk around all by herself! She loves having the freedom in the water, but we have to be careful since every now and then she’ll trip up and go under. Hunger set in for all of us, so we took the obligatory pictures of each other holding our kid in the pool and were on our way home.

“Just put me back in the water, Dad!”

“Yeah, Mommy knows how to hold me better!”

Kelley and Avery had their usual weekend lunch of steamed broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower with brown rice and wild salmon as I took forever to make the crazy veggie combo I had for the day. Apparently, waking up early caught up to Avery and she fell asleep right after her last bite of food!

We always give her lunch usually right before naptime, but it’s usually a fight to get her to sleep. Not this time. I was even vacuuming (go figure) and used the extension to tickle her feet and she hardly moved. This, of course, meant I had to post it on Instagram.

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Kelley carried her off to bed where she never woke up, but a carrot did fall from her shirt. At least it wasn’t the salmon like she gets on her most times!

For my gifts this year, besides a loving wife, adorable daughter, the best haircut to date, and no giant tortoise, I got another 3 month subscription to the microbrew beer of the month club. I loved this gift last year for my 30th birthday, and am excited to see what I get this time around.

Going Mom also added to the Dad and Avery photo book she made for me last year which I will always hold dear to my heart. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a sentimental guy, and these things mean so much to me.

A photo book of daddy and Avery from my loving wife!

She was trying to be secretive about adding to the book and was going to use another room, but I noticed that the book was missing from the bookshelf it usually sits on and told her I already knew what she was doing. So, as I write this, she is putting it together in the same room as me, I just agreed not to look. She seems really busy though, and if it’s anything like her previous work, it will be magnificent!

Overall it was another wonderful and successful Father’s Day. Number 2 is in the books (hey, no dirty minds here!) and can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year to celebrate my third Father’s Day. Maybe a giant tortoise?

And, before I go, here is the winner of the PicturesOnGold.Com Photo Dog Tag Giveaway.

Congrats, Marilyn, hope you enjoy giving this special gift to a special someone in your life!

Dads, did you do anything special to celebrate the day?

Do you like celebrations that are low key or prefer something a little more wild?

#MySundayPhoto, Parenting

Hiking and Beer With My Wife: #MySundayPhoto – 06.14.15

06/14/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

Last Monday, June 8th, was my 31st birthday, yay, but my wife and I celebrated the Saturday before. In the past, I’d get excited about celebrating by drinking beer and partying with friends. But now, I find enjoyment in other, more active forms of celebrating.

Today’s picture, as seen in my birthday post, is from my Samsung Galaxy 3 (yes, old school at this point), but the quality come from the memory, not the pixels or megabytes. It’s of my wife, Kelley, and I standing in line at a local brewery under the hot Texas sun after a 5+ mile hike.

The hike, as we expected, was HOT! I tend to enjoy punishing my body in the heat, so it was a great way to celebrate the day. I’m forever grateful to Kelley, not such a fan of the heat, for joining me on the trek. We rewarded ourselves with refreshing craft beers from an awesome brewery (hence the line) called Martin House. It’s the same place we went for both of our 30 year birthdays.

This last trip had me feeling a little woozy, as expected, but I really didn’t enjoy that feeling. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I much prefer having a coffee and getting a “buzz” from caffeine instead of alcohol. If it’s after a hike, make that an iced black coffee. So next year, be on the lookout for a hot a sweaty 32 year old gulping down massive amounts of iced coffee….it’s probably me! 🙂

What’s your favorite way to celebrate turning another year older?

Parenting

Avoiding the Dad Bod with Rhone and My Birthday Weekend

06/09/2015 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Phew! The Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge is complete and now it’s back to, well, basically the same thing with more pictures. And most of them are current. And….okay, you get the point. If you missed them, here are days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

We celebrated my 31st birthday over the weekend and kept it fairly low key, just as I prefer. Actually, we did more than I’d normally go for, but had a great time doing so. Last year, I celebrated by running a 5k while pushing Avery (we came in 1st place!) and then went to a local brewery called Martin House.

Kelley wore Avery in the Ergo as I enjoyed a few craft beers. She was the designated babywearer. I can’t believe how small Avery was, she slept the whole time we were there! I thought it would be awkward, but apparently a lot of parents bring their kids to the brewery and we even saw another couple wearing their baby too.

This time, G-Ma came over to watch our wild child so Kelley and I could go on a nice hike before heading over and enjoying a few brews together. The brewery is right along a big river with miles of trails, so we parked right there and went on our way.

It was perfect, no driving multiple places, just sweat it out on a hike and walk right up to the brewery to cool down. And sweat we did; hellllloooo Texas heat! It wastes no time warming up around here and that sun was unrelenting the entire time. We walked at a brisk pace and ran a little at the end because, beer.

The overall time and distance based on the Sports Tracker app I used was 1 hour 24 minutes and 5.2 miles. Neither of us were really dressed for a run, but I kept comfortable and rather cool since I had on my Rhone Apparel shorts.

We hiked from the trail right up to the brewery line as they were opening. The sun continued it’s abuse, but I’d say we looked pretty cool. The Rhone Bullitt shorts I was rocking allowed complete freedom of movement while still providing plenty of pocket space for my phone, five pennies I found on our hike (a penny earned….), and even a snail shell I thought looked cool enough to carry around.

The clothes you wear when you’re active can make or break you, and Rhone makse athletic apparel that looks and feels good and performs even better. Even after our sweaty trek, my shorts still looked good and were stench-free as we stood around the giant vats in the brewery. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the many cyclists hanging around in their stinky bike shorts.

Good beer, beautiful wife, and shorts that don't stink!! — Good beer, beautiful wife, and shorts that don’t stink!!

Speaking of bikers, we sat next to two awesome cyclists in their 60’s and had a blast talking with them the entire time. Very lively people, and they even got me another beer! I had an extra beer coupon since it was my birthday so we only paid for one beer glass tour and I just shared some of my beer with Kelley, hence her small white cup. But after hanging with our new friends, somehow we ended up with this….

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Like my “beer fingers” typo? Cab instead of can? Yeah, I had more than I needed and will stick to water or Zevia for a while. Probably didn’t help that all I had was black coffee all day, and then the 5 mile hike…..yeah, not the best pre-drinking combo. Meh, I had fun with my wife and that’s what matters most.

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Keeping fit and healthy also matters a great deal in our home. Anyone who reads this blog will see that fitness and nutrition are high on the list of priorities that make up part of our daily life. So things like the Dad Bod seriously tick me off. No, it’s not cool or sexy….EVER! Our kids are a direct reflection of us, the parents, and I surely don’t want Avery thinking a dad bod is how a guy, or anyone, should look.

This definition on Urban Dictionary sums it pretty well:

Dad-Body

1. A body resembling a man who lives a sedentary lifestyle, flabby, usually comes with a keg gut. Sometimes can see penis, most of the time cannot. Body resembles his personality; dull, lifeless, and very conservative.

2. Once in shape, but clearly has lost most athletic properties. Best suited for sitting at a desk chair, possibly doing ones taxes.

Doesn’t sound appealing to me and I don’t know how anyone could be attracted to it. Plus, I want to be an awesome role model to my daughter and let her see how living a healthy, active life, is fun and rewarding.

In an effort to combat this passing fad, Rhone Apparel is having a sale for $25 off all orders over $100 when you use the code NODADBOD at checkout. On top of that, you get free shipping on all orders over $75, so you can walk away with good deal for some outstanding clothes. And if you click this link, you’ll get $20 credit towards your next purchase. In doing so, Rhone will also give me a $20 credit, so we all win, and winning, as we all know, is way cooler than losing.

Oh, hey, and guess what’s coming up? Father’s Day! Keep the dad in your life healthy and active by heading over to Rhone’s site and getting a nice pair of shorts and a shirt to keep him motivated to stay active and be able to fit into the clothes you get him!

I love my General Short Sleeve shirt and Bullitt Shorts so much that I have to keep cleaning them to reuse several times a week. I’m actually taking advantage of the NODADBOD coupon code to pick up a pair of their Mako Shorts for a little Father’s Day gift to myself. Because you never know when you’ll need the ability to swing a heavy kettlebell around…..

….or play with your kid in the backyard.

Yes, she has to be picked up a lot, so it’s nice to have clothes that work with your movements and not against as they don’t allow free range as you bend and stoop.

There’s more to come on the birthday front, but for now head over to Rhone and see what you like for a little gift to your self for Father’s Day or for the husband/father you love. Having a good set of clothes to keep motivated may be all it takes to avoid the Dad Bod and keep fit. Do you want your kids growing up to see dad keeping active, or just sitting around?