50 Sentimental

On Wednesday afternoon, we arrived in idyllic Warwick, New York – hometown of my aunt, uncle, and cousins – after Stage 4 of our Tour de Frantic. We’d said good-bye to Rhode Island in the morning, stopped by Port Chester, NY at lunchtime to see Beni’s godmother and her kids, and then headed farther west to visit my family and serve as a ruse for my Uncle Ken’s surprise 50^th birthday party. The top two pictures – the ones of Olivia pretending that the weights of the party balloons were paddles of a defibrillator and of her licking birthday cake off the fork – were taken on site of the surprise celebration. For the occasion, my Aunt Kris made retrospective posterboards, as well as CDs for the guests featuring a compilation of Ken-related songs. It was such a lovely event – we were delighted to be in attendance.

This evening – a Friday the 13th, no less – we marked Ken’s half-century of life at their home. Olivia has stayed by my cousin Ingrid’s side for most of our visit, and today was no exception. About the only time we can pry her from Ingrid – or her best friend ever, as Olivia affectionately calls her – is during dessert time. The pics above are from the day of family fun.