Father's Day Ideas with 16 Mo and One on the Way?

There are a lot of good ideas, but I thought I'd throw one more into the pot: out daughter is 2, & until she is old enough to truly express herself what a wonderful dad she thinks she has, my way of telling him how much I appreciate him has been, & will be, to give him the day off. We'll take him out to breakfast, but I'll be fully responsible for the little one & her needs. And after that, he's going to go & do whatever he wants. That's what he's given me for Mother's Day, & it's been glorious! ;-)

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful men out there!

If you'd like some place to go Vallejo is having a Pirate festival this weekend. Admission is free and i'm told it's a lot of fun. I'm going today with my family.

Here's the link,

http://www.norcalpiratefestival.com/mainpage.htm

There may not be a lot of special things you can do that would be appropriate for your little one yet and I'm sure your husband understands this. Maybe go to the park as a family. Have you asked your husband what he would like to do? Just spend time having fun together. Your son could fingerpaint a "picture" for daddy or take the two of them to have their pictures taken together.
By next year, your son can help make a special meal or the boys can go fishing and have a whole bunch of two year old adventures.

We are taking our 2 year old and 4 month old to The Bay Area Discovery Museum for a special day out with my husband. Their activities range from 6 months-10 years, and its always fun to have a special outing with the family. It does cost, but its an idea. www.badm.org

Get the child a T-shirt with daddy's picture on it and saying ...I have the best daddy in the world or We are buddy's for ever and a picture of them both ... or something like that!!! Go to the mall they should have one of those stands that do pictures on T-shirts, mugs and all!!! You can get creative!!!Love, G.. :0)
P.S. hope I was of help to you!!! Good luck!!!Oh and there is a lake on Oakdale that has a beach like shore with sand and they might enjoy the water!!! They have picnic areas too...

You can make cast of your son's hand (kit available at Michaels) that he will treasure forever!
Patti b

Me and the hubby decided for father's day to go to a local park where they have a bunch of kids stuff. It was a toss up between that and a zoo. Some where that the kids can spend time having fun and Dad can watch them have fun. I'm also thinking after we get back home from there I'll go out to the "store" and stop by Baskin Robbins for a ice cream cake for Fathers Day too.

I love breakfast in bed...You'll do all the work this year but with a few years under the childrens belt, they take the lead and have a lot of fun with it...and it doesn't have to be anything hard...Still to this day even with all my children grown and living away...at least one appears at my house with coffee and a strawberry pie, whole berries...we sit on the bed...and pass the fork as we all shared the pie...There is laughter and love...and that is really all that matters...And with doing breakfast...it leaves the day open for its own adventure...T.

Hi,
They have these great (reasonably priced) stepping stone kits at Michaels. Its fun to make one and put your childs handprints/footprints on them. You can paint on them as well...names, dates, etc. We are going to do another this year.

Good Luck

Go to one of those paint-it-yourself pottery shops and put your 16 month old's hand prints on a plate or something.

J.,

There are a ton of local activities in the area that might be fun. It depends on where you live around the Bay Area.

Our son is 17 months and we are going to go see the U.S.S. Hornet Battleship in Alameda tomorrow and then out to lunch. It is not very expensive and my husband is soooooo excited. We went hiking and for a picnic last year.

I would ask your husband too, there might be somthing he has been wanting to see that you don't know about.

Enjoy tommorrow,

N.

I would look online at SFgate.com to see if there are any fun ideas that are closer to where you live.

I once got a white T-shirt and let my toddler son have at it with different colored paints and brushes. It turned out beautiful and my Hubby still wears it today after ten years! I wrote Happy Father's Day, the date and by your little Picasso - and his name. He loved it.

things weve done in the past: Put up streamers all over the house. Write "world's greatest Father" on his car windows. Bake him a pie.
Get him the book "Life Lessons for Fathers". Wash his car. Make him a little paper book with a short love powem dispersed through the pages with pics of your child in it. Make him a stepping stone (they have kits at craft stores) and put your child's handprint in the center with "I love Daddy" around the top and the date at the bottom. The blackhawk car meuseum is having Dads get in free tommorrow. It's a neat place to visit even if you don't love cars! Go to lunch after! There are the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Jose at Kelly Park. You could rent a boat at lake Del Valle. You could go bowling. Boomers in Livermore has mini golf. You could visit a farm in brentwood and pick fruit and then have a picnic. Look up Brentwood farms online for ideas at the different farms. Pillar Point ( Half moon bay area) has a small cove that has a very tiny "tide" , just perfect for little ones to wade (unfortunately only an outhouse for restroom.) Pleasanton Hotel In Pleasanton has an award winning sunday brunch and probably will tommorrow as well. (get reservations)

Hi. You could go for a picnic in the park spend time together as a family and/or get some paint and do a hand print of little ones hand /feet and make a card with it. Go swimming, fly a kite. go to the zoo. What ever you do have a wonderful day. J. x

I love that you asked this question--it's been so fun reading all the answers!! Here are a couple more ideas to ponder. Alameda is a totally kid-friendly place. You could picnic at the beach. Or you could go to the New Zealander pub for beers and a pub pie (they have a kid corner with books and games so it's totally kid friendly), then you could walk to crab cove beach area. Does your husband like sports? For my husband, I decided to have my 3.5 month old give him gift cards for the SF Giants. That way, he can pick what game he wants to go to as a family. I'm also going to bake him a strawberry rhubarb pie in the morning--I have NEVER done any pie making in my life. Have fun and good luck!

I know it's too late, but I thought of a great idea at the last minute. I also have a 16 month old and one on the way (just a week or two further than you :-) What I did was buy a small picture frame (5x7) and a white mat to fit inside it. I made a copy of a picture of my son with dad, and then had my son finger paint all over the mat. I write Happy Father's Day, and I love you on it (and the year), and Daddy loved it. Even better though, my son loves it. He keeps carrying it around and pointing at himself and his daddy! It turned out great.

Sorry to be late, but like I said, I had an epiphany yesterday :-) I hope you had a great one!

In Glen Ellen (Sonoma County) is Benziger Winery. It's a kid friendly place. He could drink wine (you can drive), you can picnic next to the peacocks & swingset for your son's entertainment and freedom. Afterwards you can take a walk around their beautiful organic, biodiverse gardens (or take a tram & guided tour around the gardens). So the littlest runs around and gets outside time, while your husband gets grown up time. And if you all like nature, it's a beautiful place for a walk/hike. If you go, there is also a great family owned, gourmet grocery store in the town of Glen Ellen for picking up picnic supplies.