I never had daughters so this whole father/daughter Valentine's Dance gig is a bit foggy in my mind. My pea-soup memory notwithstanding, I'm now part of the grandfather/granddaughter dance scene in the little village of St. Cloud, Florida, where I reside these days.

My three sons and I did the Boy Scout routine and Pop Warner football growing up. This is stuff with which I can identify, though remotely. For instance, I was not a very good scoutmaster for my kids. We did knots for about ten minutes and I gave up that ghost after the first meeting.

Overnight campouts weren't much more rewarding because I don't rough it so well. My idea of toughing it out is no remote control on the HDTV. And at the one attempt of a weekend campout, I forgot to bring clean underwear to change. No problem, I recall some advice from my fellow speaker Jeannie Robertson, CSP, CPAE, who said you can turn dirty underwear inside out and they're good for three more days.

So the village of St. Cloud, Florida decided to do this daughter/granddaughter gig on the shores of East Lake Toho in a very nice facility they own right above Crabby Bills, a local watering hole where yours truly enjoys a Yuengling from time to time along with some great seafood.

My wife, Christine, was decidedly beside herself that she could not be a part of this Valentine's weekend party, so I decided to take her out to eat at Crabby Bills, where we met the son of the chain's founder at dinner. He wasn't very crabby at all; in fact he was nice! He was in town to visit his money on the shores of East Lake Toho.

Just as we finished eating, Casey, my daughter-in-law, wheeled up with my beautiful grandbabies, Ashley Elizabeth (4) and Ava Emily (2). Since my sons were busy judging a weightlifting meet in nearby Kissimmee, it was up to fellow grandpa (Jerry Patterson) and yours truly to get the girls upstairs for the big party.

Their daddy, Cory, showed up in just the nick of time, changed into a suit in the head and we all moved upstairs in our suits and ties with the two little ones in tow, wearing their new dresses that they donned for Uncle Christopher's wedding some seven months earlier.

Whoever invented this gig never had to chase a two year old around for two hours in a dance hall. Dancing is a misnomer; running laps would be more accurate. It finally occurred to me that I should grab a seat and let Ava just do her laps around the dance hall.

I lasted about ten minutes before handing the baton to Grandpa Jerry. Fortunately, Uncle Jason (Cory’s twin brother) showed up in just the nick of time and rescued both of us, allowing us to grab some leftover goodies from the buffet line, most of which included every form of sugar known to man. That's precisely what Ashley and Ava needed… a little more sugar to wire them up! Our favorite candy was the lollypop pacifier which looked great in our mouths in the picture they took of me and the girls.

As the music pounded away, Jerry observed to me that the selections would not have been his first choice. What is a "Black Eyed Pea?" he asked me. The blank look on my face said it all, and then I recall that it was a halftime show at this year's Super Bowl.

Finally, after an hour and ten minutes into the two hour dance, I grabbed Jerry and we headed downstairs to the watering hole to fill up on a Blue Moon (for Jerry) and a Yuengling (for yours truly). Ain't nothing like a hunk of orange inside your beer. I've got to get some vitamin C along the way to help with my energy to chase after Ava and Ashley.

We hit our fill after two rounds and headed back upstairs just in time to look like we were responsible grandfathers. We grabbed the long stem roses the City of St. Cloud had provided for the dance (finally getting some return on my tax dollars) and took the elevator down to load the kiddies up for the ride home.

My daughter-in-law Casey wheeled up in her SUV to load up the girls and my wife Christine wheeled up behind her in my car to take the worn out grandfathers and Uncle Jason home. As the old saying goes… "A good time was had by all!"