Yea! Time for Cake!

So, my dad turned 60 this year.
We (being my sister, my mom, and myself) decided that we needed to throw a surprise party at the same place we threw his 50th. Hey. It'd been 10 years. We barely remembered the last one.

I was in charge of decorations, my mom was in charge of securing the location and food, and my sister was in charge of getting them here (and planning KK's bithday since it is on the same day). I decided to get different pictures from my dad's life and hang them around the room. I took a whole bunch of them from my parents' house and scanned them.

OH MY GOSH!

I don't know if you know about the Rapid Scanner at Target by Kodak, you SO should know! (I am not paid by Kodak, I just want you to know about my FABULOUS experience!)
I had about 55 photos to be scanned in and printed and I was, honestly, dreading the experience. I even roped Auntie into coming with me to keep me company and to fend off the other people wanting to use the kiosk (since I'd probably be there for like, 5 hours). I think I promised her ice cream and wine.

Well, you put about 20 photos into this fancy scanner and zip! It's done in seconds. LOVE IT! It took us about 20 minutes in all to do all these photos, plus some that couldn't go through the rapid scanner and had to go through the flatbed.

Anyways, back to the decorations. I also went on the internet and found different facts and events that happened on my dad's birthday for every year he was alive. I wrote those on different cards and put them on ribbon. I hung them by years. Add a couple of balloons, and extra pictures taped to straws (it looked really cute if I do say so myself) and viola! Easy decorations that are cute and meaningful. I think a lot of people enjoyed looking at the different pictures and it was different and unique - not a slideshow like everyone else does.




We also decided that we should dress up in 50's garb since that's when my dad was born. We didn't make the guests dress up though. We'll save that for his 70th and make everyone do disco. I bought retro bowling shirts for my dad, Jason, and Uncle Mark. (Unfortuantely, Uncle Mark got called back to post and wasn't able to make it, that's another story.) So when dad walked in, I handed him his new shirt (embroidered as well) and sent him off to change. We did surprise him and I think he had a good time. I also embellished shirts for each of the girls with our initals in sequins. Bebe wore her poodle skirt and Mamu rocked a cute polo.

Grandaddy and KK (the birthday kids)

Bebe, Jason, Mamu, and Auntie's arm enjoying the party.

Bebe read most of the time and so did Mamu.

They got lots of compliments on how well behaved they were.

Grandaddy and Bebe (in her poodle skirt)

The gang (left to right)

Auntie, MG, Grandaddy, Me, Jason, Aunt Didi KK

Mamu & Bebe

Sweet friends - Robin

(my friend from high school who married one of my dad's friends/former coworker) and her sweet super duper cute daughter.

It was a great time and I really enjoyed getting to visit with all that came.

We (being my sister and I) have promised my mom that we'll definitely celebrate her big birthday net year.

She's said that she's going out of town.

This weekend

This weekend was my KK's and my Dad's (yes, they share a birthday) birthdays! KK turned 1! Dad turned 60!

We celebrated all day long and had such a good time catching up with family and old friends. My camera battery lied to me when I checked it and it said it was half full, so I don't have pictures with me of Dad's party. I'll have to get them from him. Here's the birthday girl though -

I made her that super cute shirt (but not the super cute petti-skirt). And if I do say so myself, she's pretty darn cute!

I'll get back with you later with all the fun of Dad's party. Gotta go fold clothes now...

The Long Lost Days from Ft. Polk

So, if you remember (or if you don't) we went to visit Aunt Didi, Uncle Mark, and KK in July at their new house. And if you also remember, I said that I would be able to tell you more about Day 3 when I got the pictures from Aunt Didi, since we had used her camera for some of them. Well, fast forward to me getting the photos like, oh, maybe 2 weeks ago, but yet forgetting to post them. So, to end the anticipation... here you go!



We went swimming at their big pool and had a splashin' good time. Even after the lifeguards told us that no toys were allowed. Really? The squirty alligator or the dive rings are a problem? But we do pick our battles, so into the bag they went. After that, it was good times splashing each other, watching Bebe swim (a lot!) and Mamu pretending he was a frog. He would hop in and out of the pool saying "Ribbit! Ribbit!" It was pretty cute.

The happy family! Isn't KK cute in her sunglasses?

Sorry Didi, I couldn't resist Mamu's face in this one.

Then, we went bowling. It was a good time and wasn't super crowded, so that was good. I'm pretty sure that Mamu won one of the games. It's probably because he got to use the bumpers and I didn't...

Mamu, Aunt Didi, KK, & Bebe



Mamu getting to use the cool slide thingy.

(AND I had to convince him it wasn't a real slide)

Our stylish shoes!

(OK...KK's are the only stylish ones there)

Me and my Mamu

Aunt Didi and Bebe

Da' Guys (as Mamu would say)

Of course, that night after we went to bed, we busted out the Banski's again. Only this time we were short a band member. Uncle Mark had to go back to work the next day, so he didn't stay up super late with us since he had PT at some awful hour in the morning. The next day we went to the park (in the heat and humidity) to wear out Bebe and Mamu so they wouldn't get too antsy for the forever long trip home.

We drove home in about 6 hours with only a minimum of stops, but bunches of traffic when we got closer to the city. The great thing was that Grandaddy was making us dinner and had it ready as we walked in the door! The even better thing was that Jason showed up to meet us at MG and Grandaddy's house and ate dinner with us! Then I found out that I was helpless on the drive home.

It was a great trip and I'm looking forward to them coming to see us in less than a month!