Shawn's birthday part 2

It has been a busy week it seems but not sure what I have accomplished. Last weekend we took a trip to visit my family to celebrate Shawn's birthday a week early. Typically we have my family, Lisa's family and a few friends to our house for the kid's parties but with them having birthdays so close together and Shawn being of the age that he really wants a party with his friends, we decided not to have family party at our house that seems to be so obligatory for everyone invited and most have to travel anyways so all in all it seemed like a good idea to forgo the family party at our house. The unfortunate byproduct of canceling the party at our house is that Shawn's birthday seems to be going on forever. Monday is his "official" birthday. We will celebrate on Sunday since I have to work on Monday and then leave early Tuesday for a business trip to the Philadelphia area for a couple of days. As of right now, we plan on heading the The Elephant Bar for dinner and opening his presents on Sunday. Shawn is off school all next week for intersession so he will make good use of the gift we bought him...not saying what it is yet! Most people already know anyway.

My Mom and Ron planned a nice birthday party for Shawn complete with big meals and a Batman cake made from scratch. I don't typically do cake but Mom really out did herself with this one. It could very well be the best cake ever, sure beats the cake in the box. Kim and Mike came over and later that evening my Mom's sister and her husband stopped by to say hello. Aunt Patty and Al haven't seen the kids in a couple of years so it was nice they stopped by to visit for a bit.

While visiting last weekend with my family, I also had the opportunity to pick up my beer from my brewing episode a few weeks back. The beer at first was extremely bitter due to the large quantity of Simcoe hops contained in it coupled with the high CO2 volume (I think it was over carbonated). But the sample I tasted last night was much better. I think this beer will actually mellow with age and in turn will become more drinkable. I was afraid that this batch was going to have me back to buying Miller Lite kegs (not a chance).

This week seems to be riddled with deaths. On Friday of last week, my great-aunt passed away. She was the sister of my Dad's mother. My Aunt Stella lived in the upper peninsula of Michigan and would have turned 96 years old in May! Not sure how anyone can live in that environment for 64 years and live to be 96. I don't remember too much of Aunt Stella because the last time I saw her was at my grandmother's funeral (when I was about 12 years old). I do remember that she was a nice woman and the few times I saw her I remember she and my grandmother always seemed to have a blast. For some reason I've been reflecting on life a bit this past week because of her death. Maybe it's because I have one relative remaining that I know or remember on my father's side of my family...my Aunt Peggy. Fortunately for me, Peggy is the feistiest one of the entire bunch and she'll probably outlive me!

Tonight, Shawn's friend Luke is coming over for a "sleep-over" and then the kids are going to spend the night on Saturday at Nana and Papa's house. I think Lisa and I will grab a bite to eat at Poco Piatti on Saturday.

I leave you with a picture of "the best cake ever"