Anyone that knows me...knows that i LOVE to have fun! I love to laugh and experience new things, no matter how dorky or ridiculous those things are. Anyone that knows my dad would say the same thing. When he was feeling the least bit up for it, he was always ready to have a good time. For the first few years of my life, I grew up on a lake with a couple of boats that my dad always seemed to be fixing :). But every weekend, we would have people over and get out there and just have fun. We would enjoy the water, the beach, the company... My dad loved to host people and to make them feel right at home...to treat them with anything and everything he could.
As I grew older, we continued to have fun...just not on the boats :). My dad would take every opportunity to FULLY enjoy whatever it was he was doing. My family would have these crazy halloween parties...us kids weren't allowed at the parties past a certain time - we still aren't allowed to see the home videos! I remember one party where my family went dressed as a biker family. My dad loaded our two fat cat dirt bikes in the back of his truck and we drove to my grandma and grandpa's house. We stopped at the end of the driveway, because we had to make a grand entrance...My dad unloaded the fat cats and my brother jumped on his, and my mom, dad and I all jumped on the bigger one (I was about 5)...we road up the driveway, my dad popped a wheely and we all flew off the back of the bike! Hilarious...not exactly, what he was going for :).
I loved going to the Johnson County Fair with my dad. Every year we would have dad/daughter night where the two of us would go and eat gobs of fair food and spend waaaayyyy too much money on fair games. My dad didn't like the rides and we both LOVED the games, so that's all we would do. I would find a prize that I wanted and he would probably spend $50.00 trying as hard as he could to win the most impossible game. I would come with tons of stuffed animals, gold fish, anything and everything.
When I was in high school, I LOVED to toilet paper houses. It was harmless and so much fun. I won't mention any names, but a certain dance team coach would take our entire team in her van and speed through the country roads, drop us off at whatever house we had decided on, and come back ten minutes later to admire our handiwork. No matter how much I loved it, it would usually come back to bite me...because my house would later be targeted. Well, I got word of some of my friends that were planning on hitting my house...I warned my parents, knowing that whatever happened, I would just have to clean it up. My dad - because he loves to have fun...decided that he would take on an new evening job. He would fill his cooler with Big Red, hide it between our Apple Trees that lined the driveway, and sat with our two dogs and his paintball gun...waiting....and waiting...and waiting. He seriously sat out there for several nights. I was getting to the point where I was hoping they would come already! One night I was out with my girlfriends and we were toilet-papering our sheriff's sons' house...and all of the sudden I hear a truck come into the driveway...i dropped in a ditch, but it was too late. "Kelly!!!! Your Dad just shot my truck with a paintball gun!!!!" Hilarious. My dad did it!!! THe boys were not too happy...but we entered a truce and joined forces for the rest of the night! My dad loves that story! And my house rarely got toilet papered!
Those are just a few of the many memories I have of my dad and his incredibly fun outlook on life. I always want to remember to make sure that I'm taking time to enjoy the wonderful things that I have. I never want to forget that each day that goes by without laughter or a new adventure is a day that is lost...I want to remember my dad by carrying on his legacy of cherishing family...enjoying the little things...and turning dreary times into joyful times (and great memories)!!
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