Granite State Birthdaying

We were back up in New Hampshire this past weekend to help celebrate the 6^th birthday of the youngest granddaughter, BR3. My son and the ABFA spared the grandparents from attendance at Friday’s birthday celebration at a local kids hot spot. They certified it contained the expected amount of chaos as a dozen or so classmates of BR3 joined in the mayhem. He sent us a photo of the gang which included the BR3 demonstrating her signature mad scientist photo face. That allowed us to remain home and receive the new washing machine and put it through an acid test with the mountain of dirty clothes that awaited its arrival.

The Special People I was Lucky Enough to Spend Weekend With

The Friday Party

The BR3 Look

New, Already Overworked, Washing Machine

My Favorite Panamanian had created another one of her granddaughter special birthday cakes. This one was Zootopia themed at the request of the birthday girl. Despite a couple high speed zigs and zags on I-495 on our way up, the cake survived to be admired before ultimately inhaled. We reached our destination and were joined shortly after by the ABFA’s parents which always adds to the fun. Especially since the other grandfather is prone to fully engage with granddaughter antics, freeing the other three grandparents from that requirement. I’m still amazed and somewhat mystified on where he summons the requisite energy.

BRS and BR3 Communing in Front Yard
Don't Know Where the Purple Hair Came From

Wife with her Creation

ABFA's Dad Pulling Grandpa Duty

We finally had a nice day to celebrate with warm temps and gentle breezes. I always love this time when New Englanders finally break free of cold temperatures and explode out of their houses. It was especially noteworthy in college when sundresses started appearing, but I digress. A representative group of friends and neighbors joined us for a short lived pinata before we descended on the birthday cake. After the appropriate oohs and awws when it was revealed, my son assisted BR3 with the cleaving accomplished with the family sword, Bonecrusher. It seems almost illegal that a cake that looks that cool is also delicious, but she accomplished it.

BR3 Ready to Roll

Pinata Time

Wife Next to Tree we Gifted Them Last Year

Time for Cake

The fun was not over as my son and the ABFA also planned a backyard fire. Any reader of Frail Deeds knows that made a certain pyromaniac very happy. Since the ABFA was involved, S’mores were part of the event as well. I’ve said this before and will continue to spout off about how sitting around a fire with friends and family touches something welcome deep in our genetic code since our ancestors did this every night, mainly to keep the sabretooth tigers at bay, but still. It was a lot of fun. Riggins, the blind but beloved dog, was fighting to get outside and join the fun. He staged a sit-down strike when my son tried to bring him back inside since a fire and a blind dog is not a good combination. The BRS stood up for Riggins and volunteered to keep him from wandering into the fire.

Bonecrusher Deployed

After this very fun day I didn’t expect to have trouble falling asleep but there I was, wandering downstairs after midnight. I think it was just one of those days I didn’t want to end and my brain was sending conflicting messages to the rest of the body.  In a big surprise, my son was likewise afflicted, and we ended up watching TV together well into the wee hours. While I hate it when insomnia strikes, at least I got to spend it with one of my favorite people in the world. I eventually made it to sleep around 3am while he didn’t get any sleep at all, pulling an all-nighter. He filled me in on what happened in the TV show we had binge watched together during breakfast.

Fuego Time

Birthday Girl and her Grandpa

BRS Prepping her S'more

The granddaughters, of course, don’t recognize a moratorium on grandparents’ wakeup times, especially when combined with short sleep hours. That seems to only whet the appetite. BR3 performed the duties Sunday. For some reason, any other call to wake up after such a short night would be painful but granddaughters have achieved a breakthrough by making it fun. We were joined by the ABFA’s parents for church where we ran into a couple people from last year’s European trip to the Marian shrines.

BRS Protecting Riggins

After lunch we all bundled into cars to drive to BR3’s final gymnastics meet of the year. I’m including way too many photos from that event, but what can I say, I’m a proud grandpa and she was amazing. She was particularly remarkable when it came to climbing both a cargo net and a rope to the top of a very high ceiling. This was lot more fun to watch than the dreaded dance recitals because a lot more action was involved. BR3 doesn’t like to receive the applause and recognition she earns but she was forced to endure a bunch of it yesterday. We all departed for respective homes after the meet. I had no trouble falling asleep last night. Go figure.

BR3 on the Right Climbing Cargo Net

Uneven Bars

Balance Beam

Fam in the Stands

Floor Exercise

Scary Rope Climb

Medal Ceremony

Looking for a Way Out

Fellow Grandparents With the Gymnast

Proud Parents

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, Namesake Nephew further enhanced Great Aunt’s new deck by building a pergola for her and assembling a new table and chairs. He reported it wasn’t hard, or in his own words, “nothing a 30 rack can’t build!”. A boy after my own heart. I’m sure a McShawn’s Night is in the offing with Soxfather’s family to properly christen the new deck. Wingman attained hero status for the day with my daughter down in New Jersey. He’s currently on tour with his band but after performing in a show in Pennsylvania he drove home late at night to walk the FBR to her school bus stop in the morning and then mowed the lawn before boarding a plane for the band’s next performance in England.

New Pergola

 Table and Chairs

New Jersey Hero Work

The A-Z watch continued with four movies, all keepers: While You Were Sleeping – one of my favorite romcoms of all time, fall in love with Sandra Bullock every time I watch it;  White House Down – almost comical level action as the poor White House takes another beating; The Whole Nine Yards – semi-sad to watch, knowing what happened to stars Perry and Willis, but still lots of fun, with Amanda Peet stealing every scene she’s in; Widows – such a good movie, amazing cast with a heartfelt crime drama.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course