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Best Day of My Life
Submitted by: Jim Ford - 07/28/08 10:34 am

Best Day of My Life
Recently Haley and I had a fantastic weekend in Louisiana that makes it such a golden memory. Camping at Uncles John's Friday night, we started it off early on a Saturday morning driving out for a Girlscouts event for Scouts and their Daddies in April 2008 in the Caney Lake area of Chatham, LA. Tucked away in an extremely wooded remote area whose directions included, "after you turn off the paved road". We packed sandwhiches, sunscreen, and were pumped for a great time.

It was pretty much a free-for-all set up. We walked through wooded trails to each station. Our first stop was at the Archery station where our great teacher had us all laughing and ready to go. Haley was a pro I tell ya. She hit the mark every single shot, her first time ever! She asked for an archery set for Christmas of course. Then we discovered a huge bubble area! Overlooking a little fishing pond, we made the coolest biggest bubbles ever and sang songs together.

The fishing pond looked so great, we had to try it out for ourselves. A nice man set us up with all our gear and the funniest parts were Haley scared to bait her own hook. Being a good Daddy, I baited it for her! We fished for a while with no luck and moved on to canoeing. Haley's first time! It was great fun, and little Haley actually thought we were going to tip over when I rocked the boat back and forth. She doesn't know Daddy was a church camp counselor for years and years and has some canoe skillz! We paddled away from the others and had some nice quiet and serene time together. We decided we needed to take a canoe trip together this summer.

We decided to take a break and found an old cabin. We sat on the plank board porch and had our lunch with another Daddy and scout. Then we decided to go hiking and exploring, pointing out different plants and animals. Just spending good time together. Then we headed over to the arts and crafts area where we made colored sand pictures and a necklace for her Mom. Daddy is all thumbs with crafts but we had a great time doing it. Haley was very proud of the things she made. When it was time to go, Haley cupped my face in her hands and gave me one of her super sweet kisses and said, "Daddy, this is the best day of my life". I melted. Right there. I don't know how I could love my daughter anymore than this.

After heading to Ruston, we stopped by and got Haley a haircut downtown, then headed out to Lake D'Arbonne out in Farmerville to meet up with my old friends Heather Sutton and Nicky Pyles and their kids and families. We played, grilled out, shot a big fireworks display (Ford's LOVE fireworks!), and rented a big cabin for all the kids to play in. You can see the picture here of Nicky with all the kids being silly!

After a tasty Huddle House breakfast, we headed over to Uncle John's house outside Ruston where he and his son Phillip had been camping in the front yard. John is clearing his land to build a house and Haley and I both got to work on the bobcat to dig dirt from his pond for his house foundation. We road 4-wheelers, had lunch, and the kids played on the massive dirt pile! Doesn't matter if you have a girl or a boy. Kids love dirt! We wound up the day taking turns on the big rope swing. We love seeing our family and playing in the woods. Reminds me of growing up on Sherwood Drive.

That pretty much wrapped up our weekend. Haley was asleep within minutes of heading to her Mom's house. Little babe was tuckered out and so was I! We had so much fun. Haley and I share such a close bond and I love doing everything with her. It doesn't get much closer than that. Like Forrest Gump said, we are like peas and carrots together. We've shared a lot of Best Days of Our Lives together.

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