A month with Dad

As many of you know, Steve's employer offers 4 weeks paternity leave to new dads. You can take it anytime within the first year of your child's life but you have to take it all at once. We decided to wait until the grandma's left to take advantage of this awesome benefit.

June 7th- Steve became a stay at home dad and July 7th it ended. We had an amazing time together. It was great having an extra set of hands around the house, plus we got to take Mason and Reagan to some pretty cool places that are typically overcrowded on the weekends. On June 21st the night of my BIG 3-0 we hopped on the red eye bound for Tennessee. We spent the last 17 days there and returned early (1 am) on Thursday. I will blog more about our trip to TN but I wanted to share the highlights of what I like to refer to as a "month with dad"

Mason got his first haircut! He did really awesome. Although he doesn't have much hair what he had was long and needed to be cut. I was glad both mom and dad could be there (and little sis of course)

After the haircut, Mason and Steve went on a train ride. You get a free train ticket with each haircut.

We went to Northwest Trek- somewhat like a zoo but with only animals native to the Northwest- Of course, Reagan slept through the entire thing.

Mason and dad waiting to go on the tram.

Gasworks Park. Since moving to Seattle- Gasworks Parks has been on my to visit list but we never seem to make the time. But that changed during the month of dad- we packed a picnic lunch and headed over. It was a lot of fun and great family time. I know this isn't the best picture of Steve or Mason but Reagan was awake and looking at the camera. When you are a month old- you get to call the shots!

Steve and Mason exploring Gasworks and watching seaplanes.

We did a lot around the house too. It seemed like every time we marked something off the to do list- we added another item. Our bathroom now has a new light fixture and a fresh coat of paint on the wall. Our deck (which has been up since October) finally has all the screws in it. We weedeated the lawn, and put together our new edger. We had a great time in TN and with dad but I think everyone was ready to get back home and to our normal schedule. Mason really enjoyed having Steve home. I don't think the boy said mom the entire month everything was dad, but today, I got a mom. Life is back to normal.