Party Like You're 96!

Grandma Dean celebrated her 96th birthday on Sunday at her camp on Higley Flow. She had a great birthday picnic with lots of friends and family and all her favorite 4th of July foods: scalloped potatoes, ham, macaroni & cheese, pickles, olives, and Harvard beets. And don't forget the custard pie, Grandma Dean's favorite. She actually refused to blow out the candles on her official birthday cake - not because she didn't think she could blow them out - she said she did not like flames too close to her face, and proceeded to nimbly pluck a burning candle out of the cake (!) and blow it out separately! Go grandma!

The beach at camp

Aiden was not feeling particularly well on Grandma's big day - he was more than mildly "backed up" as they say, and was pretty grumpy and lethargic as a result. We fed him about, oh, 12 oz of pureed prunes over the course of the day but got no payoff until we made it back home to Vermont that evening. I guess some folks just can't go when they travel. Even though he was grumpy, Aiden did get to spend a little time with his cousin Ciara who is now 21 months old. Jeni & Glen have recently determined (the hard way) that Ciara is allergic to egg whites, peanuts, and tree nuts, so everyone (especially Jeni) was careful to watch that she did not pick up a stray cookie or get fed by anyone who didn't know the situation. Ciara is talking like crazy now, so hopefully her first run-on sentence will be, "Did you know i have food allergies, are you sure you should feed me that!?"

Glen and Ciara

Chowing down outside despite the cool weather

It threatened to rain on the picnic when we got started, but by the time dessert was out, the sun was poking through the clouds and warming everyone up. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Aunt Memorie and Grandma

Grandma gets her custard pies



Fussa Bud taking some quiet time away from the party

The biggest smile we could get for Grandma's B-day

Oh, and I almost forgot... as we were getting in the car in the afternoon to drive back to VT, Andy spotted our newest life bird of the year... a male Mourning Warbler! Poor Aiden had to sit in his carseat (probably rolling his eyes) while his parents stalked around the car with binoculars for five minutes trying to confirm the sighting. Something tells me he won't forget these moments...