Saturday, June 22, 2013

My Sweet Dad's 80th Birthday!

Dad, YOU LOOK FABULOUS!  The man is 80 and doesn't have one grey hair on his head.  He is a retired aeronautical engineer with 16 US patents.  He still  swims, plays the piano, has a beautiful voice and teaches math courses at a local college.  His favorite hobbies are watching flight videos on YouTube, watching Seinfeld and reading books on his Kindle.
Barbara, Dad, Mary Anne, and Rich

Dad and Mom
He doesn't travel much; so we all came to him.  We decided on a siblings reunion:  four of my five siblings and three of his four siblings.  The weekend went by too quickly!  We celebrated at Uncle Julio's with Tex-Mex and a huge chocolate cake.  Dad had never been to Costco (my parents belong to Sam's Club).  After lunch, we went on a little adventure to Costco where we put Dad in a motorized jazzy cart and puttered up and down the isles.  However, I think he spent most of his time with the piano vendor and test drove a few electronic keyboards.
Most of the weekend we spent at my parents house reminiscing stories from our days in Tennessee or my dad's childhood memories in El Paso, Texas.  When my dad is around his siblings it just opens up this part of him that I rarely see.  He becomes a very animated story teller with probably 65% facts and 35% for pure comic relief.  Not to worry, he had his sisters there to set the story straight.
Oh, he wanted to play games.  So Barbara comes up with this game that none of us as adults can keep straight.  It was difficult to stay focused due to the tears in our eyes from laughter, a few snorts and distractions from Rich (who wasn't into the game at all!).
Kate, Dad and Blake at Uncle Julio's

Becky, Dad, and Julianna
It was a great celebration of my dad's 80th Birthday because it was all things my dad:  family, remembering stories of family and friends, Tex Mex food, games and a little shopping trip up and down the isles of Costco.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!  WE LOVE YOU!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Monkey See...Monkey Do!






 Love Summer Time!  Just some fun photos from an afternoon at home. 
"El-phant" reunited with the red wagon!



I love this candid photo!
Not our Baby Blake anymore... just "Blakie" according to Louie.
Very Observant...Monkey see...
Monkey Do!
AAAAAND... Stop.
No kidding, this went on ALL summer.  I thought it was... funny...Louie... did not!  :)