Papa Doug

Doug as a Papa of two darling daughters is a sight to behold.  He cannot stand tears.  He is a sucker for the big-eyes look.  He is fond of his captive audience.

"Papa, can you get me that stuffed unicorn?"

And off he goes to shoot the cans off the shelf to win another prize for his girls.

Yes, it was raining that day.  The girls had just arrived from a 24-hour overseas plane ride.  The stuffed toy had to be won.

"Let's make ice cream, Papa!"

"Ok, this is how it's done," quips chef Doug, as he uses sheer will and muscle power to display his kitchen skills.

Ten years later, he is still at it, demonstrating the proper way to fry a bacon (crisp!), fry potatoes (crisp! with paprika), prepare leftover meat (fried, with bacon and something spicy to improve the taste).

Come girls, and lie down on the grass! (Mama will take care of the grass stains later.)

The girls eventually learned that there is a limit to what Mama will do, and has since gained the skill of redirecting their Papa's energy.

For years, Papa Doug was the gingerbread house builder who kept the girls from eating all the decorations.  If the girls were lucky, he wouldn't fall asleep before it's done and be snoring through the midnight chime on New Year's Eve.

But kids grow and learn their Papa's quirks.  These days, they put on 80s music to keep him up, and they make the gingerbread house in less time it takes for him to dance a Michael Jackson song.

Versatile Papa can drink tea with the daintiest little girl, and snarf on hot dog sandwiches like a real baseball fan.

He continues to influence their tastes, and as such, have raised daughters who

• love ramen (from the packet) and crave Chick-fil-A on a Friday,
• dislike brown rice, green vegetables, and fake Japanese food, and
• can quote Captain Jack Sparrow (from any of the first three movies, so far), or a complete dialogue between Kuzco, Yzma and Kronk (and if you had to ask, it's from The Emperor's New Groove).

He loves his little girls so much that he'd suffer through a typically humid D.C. 4th of July parade, gain a sunburn in the shade, and push strollers through the metro system with the tourist crowds.

Yes, he loves them <----that much---->.

Finally, the Papa Doug doesn't make a good judge for Chopped Junior.  After watching the girls slave  over a hot stove and hide secret ingredients from each other, the judge just won't declare a winner.