Wow…Just…Wow

Listen, I truly understand how blessed I am when it comes to family. Truly, I do. Still. A weekend like the past one rolls around and I’m still amazed. I guess that’s where the blessing lies, in the incredible people I’m related to having the capacity to make each family gathering something very special. We assembled in New Jersey to celebrate the 10^th birthday of the FBR. She was in high celebratory mode when we arrived on Friday. Since she had both Thursday and Friday off from school, she hosted a Thursday night mass sleepover. My daughter, whom the bulk of hosting fell upon, was clearly exhausted when we got there, while the FBR was still bouncing around. My daughter made a last check on the group at midnight and one of the participants admitted at breakfast that they had stayed up at least another hour. The FBR considered it an unmitigated success.

Sunday Morning Breakfast at the Park

Connecticut refused to notice our passage enroute, not rising to the occasion to hinder us. It must have passed a message to New York where we encountered a rare hold up through an area that is usually clear. We still arrived in time to be greeted by the exhausted daughter, the exuberant FBR, and the two newest additions to the family, Walnut and Pistachio. They’re rescue cats that have quickly established lordship over the FBR’s attention. They were a huge hit all weekend long, incredibly social and playful. Wingman snuck away from managing two locations for the Player Agency for a bit to greet us as well. 

Pistachio and Walnut

Walnut Assisting FBR with Video Gaming

Birthday Girl Prepping for her Sleepover

Cats Played with Grandpa as Well

Saturday morning the celebration launched into high gear with the arrival of my son and his family. With her two cousins at hand, the FBR was completely oblivious to anyone else (except the cats). The same could be said of both the BRS and BR3, who fell into their usual cabal of happiness at being together again. The New Jersey bunch is blessed with a fantastic neighborhood that is only getting better with time. A bunch of small specialty shops have grown up near the end of their street. We walked down there (okay BR3 was running most of the time) for lunch. Due to someone in our group being a very finicky eater (yeah, me), there was some consternation as to whether I would be able to score anything from the exotic fare being offered. However, my daughter put me on to a plate of meatballs and I was in heaven (best meatballs I’ve ever tasted and that encompasses a lot of research over the years).

Cousins Re-United

Leading the Walk to Lunch

Wife Being her Usual Radiant Awaiting Lunch

Lunch Ordering Chaos

While we were waiting for our orders, the granddaughters set up shop on the sidewalk to catch up while the FBR regaled them with stories about living in New Jersey. It was nice to see the neighborhood fully supporting these small eateries. There was a free concert going on in the parking lot of one of them. We returned to their home in anticipation of a big event – the birthday cake unveiling. The FBR chose a Lilo and Stitch theme for her birthday and requested my Favorite Panamanian create a cake with that in mind. As usual, my wife outdid herself (as she is wont to do with a granddaughter involved). The damned thing had been freaking me out for a couple days. Every time I opened the fridge, I found a large blue creature staring back at me.

FBR Stealing Wingman's Chips While Waiting

Granddaughter Sidewalk Conference

What Was Freaking me Out

A bunch of the FBR’s friends joined us for the cake and all of her abuela’s long hours creating it were redeemed with the look of wonderment and joy on the FBR’s face when she first saw it. Bonecrusher made its requisite appearance to sunder the cake and the FBR’s friends were very impressed while the FBR tried to make this seem normal. My daughter assisted the FBR with the cleaving and, if possible, the cake tasted even better than it looked (yes that meant extra laps in the pool this morning – totally worth it). As soon as the cake was sent downrange, preparation began for the big event of the day.

Cake Ready for its Debut

With its Creator

FBR Amazed

With Gang of Friends to Assist
(Don't Know why BR3 Looks Downtrodden)

Bonecrusher Descends

The FBR decided she wanted the whole family to go to a local hibachi restaurant. That’s one of those Japanese restaurants where the grill is right in front of you and the chef comes out to toss your meals onto and off the grill. I know this will surprise you, but it had been years since I’d been in one. The FBR visited this place a couple weeks ago with Wingman and declared it a righteous experience and chose it for her birthday celebration. I wasn’t expecting to partake of the cuisine given my chosen life of abstinence of eating anything exotic, but since a granddaughter was involved, I was powerless to resist. One of the first events was the launching of pieces of zucchini for the diner to catch on the fly. My Favorite Panamanian failed in her three attempts but my son rescued the family’s reputation by catching his on the first try. He was followed by the FBR, the ABFA, my daughter, and Wingman who all made the catch as well. Since I may be allergic to vegetables, I excused myself from the effort.

At the Restaurant

Grandparent Side of Table with Wingmom

Son About to Make the Catch

Cook Was Literally on Fire at Times

The cook was really entertaining as he prepared the various courses. I kept looking at the granddaughters who were clearly enthralled at the show. The cook had a couple routines designed to scare the kids which didn’t freak them out at all. The BRS howled in delight when he made as if he was going to squirt a bottle of oil at her. Since I had been taking a bit of guff from the family members at the table about my aversion to vegetables and, more importantly, the FBR issued guidance that I had to eat the huge heap of vegetables ladled onto to my plate, I decided to amaze the family. I ate all of the vegetables on my plate. The first time that’s happened in over fifty years when my mother made it a nightly ritual.

BRS Wielding Chopsticks (I failed)

Very Happy Birthday Girl

I’m not saying I enjoyed it and my digestive system is still probably in shock with the introduction of these strange substances. Somehow, I survived and the look of shock from the family, especially my Favorite Panamanian, was worth the “pain” endured. Dinner concluded with the arrival of the birthday cake (yep, another one) for the FBR. Since every table in the restaurant seemed to be celebrating a birthday as well, we knew what to expect, a booming song started up and the cake arrived escorted by a guy with flashing lights eyeglasses. Come what may, it worked and the granddaughters expressions were priceless. A great night and worthy of the FBR (an incredibly high bar to meet).

Birthday Cake Delivered

Music is Booming

Eyeglass Guy

BR3 Doesn't Know what to Think

The Look of FBR's Face Says it All

Since Sunday featured an uncommonly warm November morning, we decided to walk to yet another neighborhood restaurant to score some pastries. We then moved to the FBR’s favorite park to eat while the granddaughters could then launch onto the playground while the adults savored the food and coffee. I want to see the codicil in the contract that specifies that the grandfather is solely responsible for swing pushes but, again, I’m powerless to refuse them anything.

Sunday Morning Painting Workshop

Daughter Accessorized her Mom for the Walk

Sunday Walk

Granddaughters Leading to the Park

Grandpa, Need Another Push

While the Rest

We decided to stay in New Jersey to watch the Pat’s game together. Since I was a stationery target, the FBR proclaimed it was time for me to receive a long overdue hair treatment at the hands of her and her cousins. I was paying attention to the game while the work was going on. I became a little suspicious when everyone else in the room started to laugh. The FBR said I couldn’t look until she was finished. You can see the reason in the accompanying photos. They were very pleased with the end result. I was a little worried the paint would be difficult to get out. I’m seeing my friends this upcoming weekend and I can only imagine their reactions if I showed up looking like that. The granddaughters were a little crestfallen when I washed it out prior to leaving to buy gas. I could see how the New Jersey denizens in their Jets paraphernalia would react when I showed up in my Pat’s gear with a technicolor hairdo.

FBR And my Hairdo

During Application

The ride home was another adventure as New York, once again, took the place of Connecticut for being a pain in the posterior. Thank God for Waze which had us navigating through some very small secondary roads to bypass the worst of it. My son’s family stayed over Sunday night at our house on their way home, which meant my decompression from all the fun described above was mitigated to a certain extent and I got to play tickle monster with the BRS and BR3 this morning. You can now understand what I was talking about, in terms of being blessed. I must have been a saint in a prior life because nothing in the current one would qualify me sufficiently.

FBR School Photo Came out
Why Does She Look So Old!!!!

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, all keepers: Timecop – best Vandamme movie ever, while I know that’s not a high standard, this has aged well, still exciting; Timeline – love this time travel back to a medieval French battle, lots of heart; The Time Machine – one of my favorite movies of all time, still gets me every time I watch it, wanted to be Rod Taylor when I grew up.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete – my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course