End of Summer Memories

We did some fun things at the end of the summer that I never blogged about.

One thing was my sweet Daddy's 80th birthday.

Here he is with his little sister.

Since my husband belongs to the local volunteer fire company, we had the party at the hall. Its really bright in there, so the pictures are bright. Also, I was in the kitchen and the girls were working the camera, so I didn't get all the pictures that I wanted. But they did a pretty good job. Maybe a career for them?

We had this enormous cake, but of course, forgot candles.
My cousin Jerry said he would go to the store and get 80 candles.
I thought my Dad would think we were crazy.
Jerry said, "Have you ever seen 80 candles on a cake?"
I said, "No."
He said, "Neither did I, but I want to see what it looks like."
It took three people to light them all and my niece Connie burned her thumb.
All in all, it was something to see.

My Dad drew in this huge breath, as you can see, and blew them all out all at once (just kidding).

Since we had so much food left over, we had a party in my backyard to finish up the food another day. It was nice to get everyone together one more time, since my brother and his wife from Oregon (minus my rock), my brother from Washington and my niece and her two kids from Washington were in town.

Dad and the boys.

A lively crowd.

Our Popsicle and his six little monkeys. Lol.

In my husband's family, there is an August event called "Chowder Weekend". This is held at my brother-in-law Stephen's house.

 

He has a beautiful cottage like home on a large pond in a town south of Buffalo. Everybody takes a tent down to camp out in the yard (except us, we're not campers). My mother-in-law makes clam and chicken chowder and everyone brings other dishes to pass. My husband made a shrimp and clam boil two years in a row, but this year made tequila-lime flank steak sandwiches. They were a hit.

The yard is loaded with birds, especially hummingbirds. They are my favorite. I sat as still as possible in the screen room to get a picture of one at the feeders. But, it was as if they knew because they did not come near while I was waiting. At one point, I was standing on the far dock and one buzzed over me. I think it was having a great time teasing me.

Our friend's au pair had to return to Germany early due to an internship she received.
 To see a police car in America was on her bucket list.
My husband was able to oblige.

We had a ball with her. She wanted pics for her friends so we really poured it on. You should have seen the heads turning on the people driving by. Especially since we were all laughing at her. Veronica is a great girl, she will be missed.

Having a bevvy with Sandy and Stacy.

All in all, it was a very relaxing summer. Thank God for nice weather, because it was HOT. We got a lot of use out of the pool and the air conditioner.

See you soon!