I could see Megan sitting on the couch when I got to the front door of the house, so I made sure Kenny was behind Mom and Jim and knocked on the door. Megan let me in and went back to the living room to give us all room to squeeze ourselves and our luggage into the foyer. "Hi, Megan!" I greeted her happily. "We brought along something extra, I hope it's okay." Megan shrieked and ran toward Kenny with a hug that erased all her disappointment that Uncle Kenny wouldn't be able to join us for Camryn's birthday. As for the Birthday Girl, she was asleep upstairs, so the rest of us, including Jeff and Linda Taylor, enjoyed some strawberries and ice cream before trooping off to bed.
Friday we hit the mall and enjoyed a few games of Scrabble (Mom won the first one, I won the second) and wound up the day with a traditional dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, where Camryn got a bright red balloon to play with until it shriveled under her kisses and tiny hands. I even got to pet Satchel, our neurotically shy kitty, before heading off to bed.
Saturday Kenny just had to have a pretzel from the pretzel shop at Bridgeport Village, so Mom and Jim took us over for a pretzel break and then it was back home to help organize for the party. Megan and I stopped at Target and found the cutest little pink crown for Camryn to wear to her birthday party. Megan, Karl, and Jim bustled around in the kitchen and the grill and Camryn got a bath from Grandma (and Grandma got pottied on by Camryn!). At last! The feast was prepared, the patio lights were lit, and the guests were gathered to greet the Birthday Girl as she toddled out in her party dress and her pink crown to the delight of all. A little nervous at so many faces looking eagerly into hers, Camryn had a few swings on her new swing to calm her down before dinner was served. We had a crisp Romaine salad with grilled chicken, blackberries and raspberries, candied walnuts, feta cheese, and a berry dressing; watermelon with limes, Dad's famous kaiser rolls, and our family's special sunshine punch. Then it was time to open presents, and little Camryn was showered with wonderful gifts. We finished the evening with chocolate cupcakes and Karl's incredible key lime pie, and as Uncle Kenny put it, it was like Derek Jeter had stepped up to the plate, there were so many camera flashes as Camryn devoured her birthday cupcake.
We managed to take down the paper lanterns just as the rain came in the evening, then snuggled up inside the house for some episodes of "The Big Bang Theory," the new family favorite show, before I decided it was high time to try out the new hot tub and then have a cupcake. Roggie even graced us with her presence and cuddled up on Kenny's and my laps to be petted and adored. We bid each other a sleepy goodnight and finally wandered off to bed, exhausted from the festivities of the day.
Sunday was the wildest day of all. After breakfast, Kenny and Jim snuck out of the house to play catch across the street, and I followed with a baseball bat after I couldn't find an extra baseball glove. Jim ran and got another mitt so I could join in the game of catch, protesting that we didn't have enough fielders for batting practice. Along with a glove Jim brought out Mom, who came to see just how bad we all were. Then Megan got curious and came out in her pajamas and no shoes to see what we were up to, exclaiming that she wanted to see how good her throwing arm was after all these years. And her arm was impressive! Karl was summoned to see just how great his wife actually was at baseball and ended up joining in our game while Mom took his spot watching out for Camryn at the house. Finally we decided that our chasing after the baseball in the wet grass would have to wait until next time. After bidding Megan, Karl, and Camryn (who was all snuggly and asleep in her crib and just barely felt my kisses on her face), which wrung my heart agonizingly, Mom, Jim, and Kenny and I took off for Portland to try the famous Kenny & Zukes deli. What we didn't anticipate was ending up almost in the middle of the Gay Pride Parade as we dined. Usually the Gay Pride Parade is held on Father's Day (hmm, think about that one for a minute), but for some reason it was this Sunday, so as we enjoyed incredible sandwiches and pickles of all kinds (Mom's sandwich ended up being double-decked!), we got to watch parade-goers parade past the deli window in feathers, boas, wigs, heels, and yes, even just underwear. Wow. What a revealing montage of Portland's more...ah....colorful side. How is that not a serious affront to public decency?! Oh, well - we enjoyed ourselves terribly over our deli creations and didn't want to leave.
Bidding Mom and Jim goodbye at the airport was painfully bittersweet, relieved only by knowing that in just two months, they would be joining us in Provo to celebrate Kenny's graduation and my birthday. And yet, comfortably in my own bed in Provo that night, I had to brush away some tears. Oh, how I miss my family, and oh, how much I love them!
Happy birthday, Camryn! Our lives our richer, sunnier, and more wonderful now that you are here!
Home again!
Jim's easel celebrating Camryn's birthday:
Mom, Camryn, and Linda and our Scrabble game:
The party is almost ready:
Grandma and Camryn and bathtime!
The birthday celebration!
The Birthday Girl examining Grandpa Tim's outstretched hand:
Opening her gift from Aunt Katie and Uncle Kenny - a baseball mitt, baseball bat, and baseballs for a sporty little girl!
More gifts!
Entranced by Great-Uncle J Pat and Aunt Carroll's gift - Uncle J Pat always picks out the most fascinating gifts!
We even unwrapped some ourselves!
Megan trying out some of Camryn's new gifts!
After all that chocolate, a drink was in order!
Japanese lanterns and white lights twinkle during the evening celebration:
Grandpa Jim trying to get Camryn to toss the baseball into his mitt:
Mom tackling her gigantic sandwich:
Videos to come! For some reason, I cannot get them to load on my blog tonight.
3 comments:
My favorite sentence, mentioned in the VERY SAME paragraph as the gay pride parade: "so as we enjoyed incredible sandwiches and pickles of all kinds." HA HA HA HA HA!!!
I love those pictures. What fun we had!!!
Wasn't it just wonderful! I agree with Mom's assessment of "events" -not enough time just to hang out - so we'll just have to come back again during some downtime for more fun!
Pickles of ALL kinds were seen during lunch. Wow.
HAHAHA! You guys are dirty!! Other than the interesting entertainment, it sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. We need to have you guys over again sometime.
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