Fab Dad: Nick Arambula
Nick Arambula is the father of a duo of daughters and the co-founder and CEO of Neighbor, a local outdoor furniture company with a focus on designing and distributing high-quality furnishings and goods. (Neighbor has a Downtown Phoenix showroom.)
Dad to: Chloe, 4 and Eva, 2
Hometown: Mesa, AZ
Favorite ways to spend family time in AZ: We admittedly like to spend a lot of time at home and outside. On the weekends you may find us walking along the Bridle Path, swimming, playing hide and seek, riding scooters and skateboards through our neighborhood or going on a hike at Dreamy Draw. One thing I inherited from my family was the need for a big breakfast on the weekend. Each weekend, we usually pick up some stuff from the farmers market to make at home or go to Postino and get Chloe and Eva their weekly dose of monkey bread.
Your most rewarding fatherhood moment: It happens every time they are able to do something they’ve either been working hard to do or didn’t think they could do. As of late, it is Chloe being able to swim back and forth in the pool without me, and Eva finally being able to keep up with her sister on her scooter. Being a part of their sense of accomplishment is infinitely rewarding.
Biggest challenge as a dad: Chloe was born with an congenital cataract in her right eye. Her condition required surgery at three months, and she has worn a contact and glasses ever since, with a requirement to patch her functional eye each day. It has required a remarkable amount of discipline and care my wife, Jessica, and me. I think what made it most difficult in the early years was not knowing how vision in her eye would progress or how she was doing without being able to get feedback from her.
A father who inspires you and why: My dad, Richard. As I look back on my childhood, a very consistent theme that runs through mine, my sister and our friends’ memories of my dad was his unwavering positivity, energy and enthusiasm for life. I know that I can always get better on each of those topics, specifically in the way it manifests in what my daughters see each day. My dad serves as a remarkable reminder that each day isn’t necessarily promised, so why not approach it with the excitement it deserves. He also always finds ways to have fun and that is an often underrated, but remarkably necessary, need in life.
Best piece of advice for a new dad: Everyone says this, but it is true: time flies. While each phase of my daughters’ growth is exciting and remarkable, it feels like it is over in an instant. Try to soak it in.
Your biggest hope for your children: That they leave people they meet and places they encounter better than they found them; their dreams are only confined by their imaginations and they find true happiness.
How are you celebrating Father’s Day: We’ll probably go to breakfast at Postino, head home to play some Candyland and then spend the day out by the pool.