Today was absolutely beautiful! Tae Kwon Do, exercise, play date, marketing, card-playing, etc. What fun! And, tips: If you are the parent of a 7-8 year old and need some quiet time built into your day, teach him/her Solitaire.

Tip 2: If you want a fun card game to play with said 7-8 year old, teach him/her Gin Rummy.

We have all had a ball playing Gin with Jack who already has a ludicrous win record. In the downtime, I have felt thankful that I today taught him Solitaire.

Since my parents leave tomorrow, we decided to celebrate Fathers Day for Dad this evening. I made a beet salad, some garlic-olive oil spinach ricotta ravioli and bought some Bourbon vanilla ice cream, Mom made apple crisp, Tom plank-grilled mustard-maple King salmon and the boys made cards. We set a pretty table with a blue seersucker cloth and napkins, white china, and a vase of pale pink peonies and white spray roses and opened a bottle of Chinon rosé. Everything was fresh and lovely and tasty in a deeply satisfying way.