Happy Father's Day, Longboat Key

Truly wonderful, the mind of a child.

Ahead of Father's Day, we talked to a few of Longboat Key's youngest citizens, hoping to get the full, honest picture of the island's younger generation of "old men." These Longboat kids shared their thoughts on dear old Dad, what they like to do together, eat together and a few of Dad's favorite things — with amazing success and only a few amendments from the patriarchs. 

Ivan Zunz, as told by Zuleika, 9

Her favorite thing to do with her dad is going to the beach, bicycle riding or gardening.

Ivan elaborated, saying that Zuleika is learning to bodysurf on the little Gulf of Mexico waves. The father-daughter duo maintains a vegetable garden in their backyard, and they pick the veggies to use in the kitchen. Zuleika said they've grown tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, green beans, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots. Ivan said Zuleika's cabbage sprouts from school survived when most of the others didn't, and they eventually made soup with them. 

Favorite food: Macaroni and cheese is Dad's favorite food, said Zuleika. Ivan said it was probably soups made with vegetables from the garden he and Zuleika look after. Zuleika's favorite food her dad makes is Ramen noodle soup — of course, souped up with garden veggies. 

Joseph M'mwirichia, as told by Peter, 11, Makena, 9, Andrew, 7 and Ethan, 5

Makena said her favorite thing to do with Joseph is roughhouse and fool around, and Ethan and Peter both like going to the clubhouse to watch football with Dad. Ethan knew right away that Joseph's favorite teams are the Detroit Lions and Michigan State Spartans — Dad added that the latter is his alma mater.

Andrew and Peter both named kayaking among their favorite things to do with their dad, and pretty much any outdoor activity as well. Peter loves playing catch with Dad while he's grilling, too. Makena said one word to describe Dad was "silly," while Peter came up with "infinity" words. Ethan reminded him that "infinity" never ends — that's the point, said Peter. 

Favorite food: According to Andrew, Joseph likes to steal cookies and other sweet things from the kitchen, and he especially likes peanut butter, said Makena — none of which Joseph denied. Ethan loves Dad's pancakes and waffles, and the kids agree that they love when he makes chapati, a type of flatbread.

Dave Marshall, as told by Ethan, 17, and Elijah, 10

Longboat-area families love their outdoor time, as Elijah counted going on the boat and fishing with his dad among his favorite activities to do together. Ethan, who just got his driver's license, likes going for drives with his dad. This dad-and-son trio also loves football, and Ethan and Elijah said without a doubt that the Seahawks are Dave's favorite team.

Elijah said that Dad's favorite movie was probably Independence Day.

Dave confirmed this, then added that it might actually be the Matrix — which the younger Marshall son might not know, since the R-rating means they haven't watched it all together. However, Ethan knew to include the Matrix in his list of action-adventure classics Dad loves. 

Favorite food: Ethan said Dad's favorite food was probably sushi, which he confirmed. Elijah said one of his favorite foods of Dad's is his BBQ pizza recipe — sometimes made on the grill and sometimes made with BBQ sauce. 

Chris Claypoole, as told by Brice, 12, and Coco, 10

Brice said his favorite thing to do with Dad is head to a nature preserve or go for a hike, while Coco said she loves riding bikes with him. In guessing Dad's favorites, Brice was a champ, correctly choosing Princess Bride as his favorite movie and To Kill a Mockingbird as his favorite book. Coco offered up the Beatles as Dad's favorite band, but that's more of a Mommy thing, Chris pointed out, and he's not surprised the kids couldn't nail down his "eclectic" tastes. 

Favorite food: Brice and Coco correctly guessed that Dad's favorite was fried chicken, but his favorite food that Dad makes is cheese pizza. He cooks dinner for the family every night — just one of the many reasons Brice picked "very kind" as his main descriptor for Dad.