Well, another four-day weekend gone by and you have to ask yourself, “where did it go?” It seems as if, the older you get, the shorter time is. I suppose that when the measure of your life is the growth and development of your children, your mental yardstick seems to get shorter all the time. One minute they’re drooling on you, the next minute they’re reciting the Periodic Table of the Elements.

The Fourth was very fun. I spent the day with newly returned GeekFriend at the Hi-Pointe theater watching the restored print of 2001: A Space Odyssey. What a great flick! However, never walk through 100-degree heat and humidity to a movie theater and watch a gentle, beautiful film. Your brain thinks: “This place is COMFORTABLE. Just close your eyes! No one will notice. No one will, will they?”

We then went home for a poultry and soystravaganza indoor cookout. That was fun. Good potato chips can often make the world go round, in many ways. We loaded up the kids in the car and went to our favorite community fireworks display. The girls played on the blanket in the grass, eating ice cream (okay, only one of them) and yelling and drooling. Matilda, GeekFriend and I played Frisbee in the dirt for a while, until we got dusty and thirsty.

Baby Gertrude thought the fireworks were pretty cool. We didn’t expect her to. When things explode at that volume, kids usually get freaked out. Not my little one! She even got bored with it and fell asleep!

After we got home I walked GeekFriend out to his car at about 11:30. I came back in at 2. If we had patio furniture out there, we might have watched the sun come up. It was good though. We had a nice talk about . . . well . . . everything. From marriage to kids to life in general to places to live to what family is. Good conversation.

Friday is a blur. I think I did something. I’m not sure though.

Saturday my lovely sister came over and played with the baby while we took Matilda to see Lilo & Stitch. GREAT MOVIE. I laughed in ways that I haven’t laughed in a long time. It felt wonderful. It took some time to relax, though. Leaving the baby at home was like leaving your left arm behind. It didn’t seem natural. It was the first time in eight months we didn’t have her with us. It was too odd. I kept checking my pockets because I felt like something was missing.

The movie, however, led to a series of Dad Sucker Moments that extended through the rest of the weekend. It all started on the ride home, when we decided we wanted the soundtrack to Lilo & Stitch. Figured I’d order it from Amazon. However, Matilda then came upstairs wearing a skirt, lei and flowers in her hair, doing the hula much like Lilo in the film. I was immediately in the car, rushing up to Borders (where the morons that worked there made me wait for thirty minutes to check out. Yargh.)

Apparently while I was gone, my girls went outside and Matilda hulaed for the cars passing by, giving the drivers a nice smile and a good memory. Matilda then thought it would be a great idea to sell hula dances for a quarter to passersby. As she ran to make a sign, her mother stopped her and said, “You are NOT dancing for money.”

Thank god. I hope we never have that conversation again.

Sunday, my lifetime ban from grocery shopping was lifted and I went with the wife and baby (Matilda was at bio-dad’s). I was carrying the baby around in my arms, handing her random things that she shouldn’t have been holding and getting yelled at to behave myself. Then, Dad Sucker moment #2 occurred.

I handed Gertrude a Powerpuff Girls ball. She squealed in delight, giggled non-stop and batted that thing like there was no tomorrow. The ball now lives at home with us. Baby is happy.

Later that evening I went to the drug store alone. I figured I was safe. I was wrong. As I was walking to check out I noticed they had wooden models for a dollar apiece. I loaded my arms and brought them home for Matilda.

She was thrilled and we immediately put the fish model together. It was tough, but we had a great time. It was a nice way to unwind before we headed off to read another chapter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

But I realized something. This is what dads do. They pick up random things for their kids. Not just toys, but things they can do with their children. Kids expect this. For some reason, no matter how much time a dad spends with their children, doing something special with dad means more.

Whether it’s building a model, washing the car, hanging a picture . . . it doesn’t matter. Kids like to help their dads. It makes them feel special, a little powerful.

We finished that model, and looked at it when we were done. It’s a little lopsided, and we can’t quite figure out where the head is supposed to be, but that’s okay.

To us, it’s the most beautiful piece of craftsmanship ever. Because we did it together.