What do you get when you combine a phunny Dad with model trains?

Recently, my Dad celebrated his retirement and all the kids, most of the grandkids, and many friends gathered to celebrate. The Captain and I thought it would be a nice time for him to meet the family....momentary insanity on our parts? Perhaps.

Anyway, the Captain is also 1 of 5 kids in a French-Canadian/Irish Catholic family. That means lots of people and kids and names to remember. Over the last few months he's come to know my family through my stories. And he's come to appreciate their "personalities" through my stories and, now, through his own experiences.

Obviously, I told him a lot about my Dad prior to the party. My dad is the best Dad in the universe. This I know, so don't even try to tell me how great your dad is. (OK OK you can try, but well....) My dad is NOT perfect. Oh no. He'll drive you absolutely crazy. But his heart is always in the right place, so you love him no matter how loudly you have to shout because he's turned his hearing aids off, or how many road signs he reads out loud when you're driving down the street, or how many times he tells you the same story b/c he has so many kids he can't remember who he told what, or how many times he checks his voicemail despite the fact that no one ever leaves him messages (maybe we should just so he can listen?!).

One of my favorite things about my Dad is his very phunny sense of humor. He is king of puns. Combine this with his avid model railroading, and, well, you get this:


Yeah, that's a portion of his layout. The backdrop is the most amazing painting - done on 6 (? I forget how many) LARGE canvases. Oil on canvas. In the basement for a backdrop. Painted by his dear, ridiculously talented friend Colonel Hayes. Yes, this is the kind of love my parents inspire.



That's Dad ever the teacher, pointing things out to the Captain (next to Dad) and to my Bro

Let the Puns Begin...


In front of the graveyard, the gravediggers truck sports the company name... "Dowe Digem and How!"

Do you see the deer that the car ran over? Yep the tow truck had to come and pull it off. (Do you have any idea how small HO scale is? My father is nuts.....)

That's the Whitewater Brewing company owned by William J. Clinton...

And the delivery trucks? "We Deliver when WE feel like it, Inc."

Yes, you read right, "Estee Loggers"

And he has a whole section of mining, called, naturally, "Boggle, the Mine"

Here's a small Heinz factor, where they only make 28 1/2 varieties because "We're a SMALL plant"

This is my personal favorite: "Burrr Ice Co."

Another shot of his amazing layout. He has graffiti on his train bridge. And IRS building that catches fire and burns. Kids tipping over an outhouse, lights shot out of the billboard next to Farmer Brown's farm b/c it was keeping the cows awake, and oh so many more.

It's a joy to go down there with Dad and see all the funny stuff. And he's hip, too. Has some kind of system that runs each train individually so that they make noise and puff smoke and when they go into the tunnel it gets quieter. He's rolling with the times people. And he will make you laugh....