Gman's Birthday Weekend & The Going Away Party

On August 19^th the best dad in the world was born. I won’t tell you what year this happened in order to protect his age. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that my dad did everything but rest on his birthday despite me telling him to take it easy. Not in his nature I guess. 

So if you haven’t noticed, my dad has transformed into a biker dude right before our eyes. A Harley complete with chrome and saddle bags, an assortment of do rags, the stache, plenty of skulls on his tshirts and the overall biker look. And it was very evident that he’d made the complete transformation when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. His response was “Harley shirts, bike handle bar covers and lights for the bottom of the bike.” I found myself inside Covington’s this week sounding like a complete idiot asking for these items. I literally walked up to the counter and said “I’m gonna sound like an idiot but….”

We had a joint celebration this weekend. The best kind of celebration if ya ask me! We were of course partying in honor of Dad’s birthday and we were also saying farewell to cousin Garrett before he heads back to the sunshine state for his second year of school. His girlfriend, Hannah, had flown to Oklahoma to stay for the weekend and then drive back to Tallahassee with Garrett. It was my first time meeting the blonde beauty and she was a total sweetheart. We needed the perfect way to send them off....so you know what that means……a trip to THE CAKE LADY. I sometimes wonder if she thinks I’m absolutely crazy for ordering so many cakes. Hallie seems to distract her while I’m there trying to decide on a cake color, design and size. Miss Hal was running back behind the counter to try to find a bite of cake or cookie. She didn’t find any cookies but she did find Beverly with her arms wide open. So she settled for a hug! Beverly outdid herself again with some wonderful cakes…stay tuned to see the yummy goodness.

Hallie and I had a not so lazy Saturday morning while Riley did as well. He was headed to Mustang and we were headed to Enid and would meet up later that evening. After our workout and trip to the playground it was time to get ready but not before some downtime just hanging out in the backyard. We were greeted unexpectedly by a man who had arrived to do some work at our rent house. I was wondering why my lovely husband had omitted some pertinent information: this man was about to cut off our electricity for the day. Well darn it because I kinda needed to take a shower and use some of that electricity to get ready before we left. He was nice enough to give us some time to rush around and get ready. Hallie is so NOT a fan of rushing. The girl likes to take her time, wander the house, spread toys everywhere and enjoy her milk slowly. Lol. Not this morning. By the time we loaded up in the car she was so over the morning. She did cheer up a bit when we ran in to pick up the cakes. Back to the car and more crying ensued. She treated me well on the ride there and slept most of the way though. Good girl! But it turns out she used up all of her “goodness” because the rest of the afternoon was not quite so “good.” We made an ice cream run and went straight to Lisa and David’s to drop off the cakes and eat some lunch. It was a race to see who could get out to my car faster…Lisa or Dara? I would say that they tied. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on the little stinker. She was being shy and silly while greeting everyone and munching on some pizza.

I was looking forward to getting Hallie over to Gman’s to try out her birthday present.  Gman had been anxious to see her face when she saw her swingset. But Gman was nowhere to be found. We just had to try it out though…..

I had agreed to do some shopping at the mall with Dara and Spencer and Bailey joined us. Thank goodness because we needed all of the hands we could get when Hallie decided to run crazy. If I hadn’t been so exhausted I would have cared a bit more when she was trying to sneak under the dressing rooms in The Buckle. I had sort of thrown my hands up at that point….and it was actually not even her fault…that’s on me and the fact that I forgot to pack a stroller. We stopped for a cookie snack and then continued on to spend more money on things that I didn’t really need. Funny how Dara wanted to go to the mall and she didn’t end up spending a dime and I walked out with three sacks when I hadn’t planned on shopping at all. Thanks Darla! ;) We returned to the car VERY quickly with a VERY cranky girl. The whole way home I just kept wondering why these guys continue to want to spend time with Hal and I…it usually ends up with one stressed out momma and one child in need of a long nap. Speaking of nap, that’s just what we did. Well, kind of. Aunt B and I watched as Hal wallered and burrowed her head into pillows and tossed and turned all the while whining up a storm and refusing to close her eyes. I decided to lie down beside her and see if she would cuddle with me. Just when I thought I ought to give up she suddenly passed out. Literally. One second she was doing a modified head stand while crying and the next second she was out cold. Ah, peace. I layed beside her “resting” out of fear that if I moved a muscle she would wake up. I couldn’t afford that at the moment because she had never needed a nap so badly as she did at that moment. She got a measly 40 minute nap in when the doorbell rang and the dog barked and I knew the nap was over. She woke up even more unhappy that when she’d fallen asleep. Auntie Heather, Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Deedee had arrived which kept Hal a bit cheered up after a trying afternoon. The birthday boy had FINALLY returned home after a busy, work-filled afternoon and was running out of time to prepare the food he was taking to the party. He wanted make corn on the cob with this new recipe…rolled in mayo and Parmesan cheese (don't ask me how this tasted because I was too afraid to try it). The girls got to work cleaning, coating and rolling the corn while Lonnie grilled the corn….

.......all the while Gman supervised the activity while I lectured him for working too hard and told him he was running out of time to take a shower and get to the party. He managed to fit in some quality alone time with Hallie pushing her on the swing. Once we were all ready to go we loaded up and headed over to David and Lisa’s. Most of the guests had already showed up which meant plenty of hands to occupy and entertain high-maintenance Hal. Her mood changed completely once the party started! Party Hal was in the house!!!

It was so fun to see so many people there to celebrate Dad, Garrett and Hannah. On the menu were some yummy grilled hamburgers that had been soaking in beef broth all day, potato casserole, corn, beans and of course CAKE. Lisa and I went to grab the surprise cakes and brought them outside. Gman got a Harley cake while Hannah and Garrett got as FSU cake…..

Some swam and some sat back and relaxed. But all had fun. Hallie gave her red car a few laps around the pool with the help of Aunt Lisa, Aunt B and Darla. She had a few friends in the pool in Cayden and Cole.

The muggy weather finally forced me in the pool to cool off. I tried hard but wasn’t able to convince Riley to hop in. His words were “I will probably clog up the filter.” Once you see this picture of his legs you will understand his reasoning. He hurried back from Mustang so fast and was already running over an hour late so he didn’t have a chance to take a shower and wash his “mowing” legs off….

Gman opened his gifts under the light of the porch as everyone circled round to watch. I got in trouble for one of my gifts for bringing tears to his eyes….a Bradford jersey t-shirt to match my mom's….

I’m sure it’s very obvious by now BUT my family jumps at any chance to hang out! Everytime I am around them I can’t help but feel so thankful that Hallie has such a supportive and loving family to grow up around. Here’s a few random shots of this family I speak of.....

I will call this our “End of the Summer” bash. It’s been a fun-filled summer full of swimming, food, family, fun, laughs and memories. We are sad to say goodbye to Garrett but know that he’s got a lot of goals to tackle out in Florida. I am speaking for us all when I say that we aren’t too sad to say goodbye to such a HOT summer though. Farewell summer. Until next time. :)