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Sorry you are going through this with your father. Those that are closest to us can wound us the most.
I agree with those people who said keep the gift certificate, tell the kids where they are from and either get them to write a thank you note or make a call to your father to say thank you. I WOULD NOT coach your kids to say "we want to see you" or "when are you coming to visit us?". Your dad could not be guilted into a relationship with you, why would it work with your kids and why would you want to put your kids in a situation where they could be disappointed and hurt like you were?
If you would like to make contact with him and try to establish a relationship with him, you can do that, but I would probably first do it without the kids. If Dad is still hyper critical and such, why expose the kids to that?
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