Eric's 30th Birthday

Happy Birthday to Eric! 

Eric turned the big 3-0 on Tuesday May 17, but we celebrated the weekend before.  For 13 hours.  That's right, I thought the best way for us to help Eric transition out of his 20s and into his 30s was to make sure the party continued, which it did, both day and night!

We began the day with Cassy giving her daddy presents -- a game called Carcassonne, and one expansion pack (The River, for all you Carcassonians).  We got up and out of bed, and headed downstairs, where I had MY gift to Eric waiting.  In his usual way, Eric 'ignored' the gift, pretending he didn't see it because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to see it or not (I have a bad habit of leaving gifts out, unwrapped, so he's gotten used to 'not noticing' things).  But I pointed it out to him, it was wrapped, and it was ready to be opened.  So while I baked some cinnamon rolls for breakfast Eric unwrapped his shiny new . . . Keurig! 

Eric and the long-awaited coffee maker.

After breakfast, I set to work putting up the rest of the decorations, and Eric and Cassidy both pitched in to help with the cleaning.

Cassy loved playing with the decorations

You'd be amazed at how many thumbs up pictures there are of Eric (or maybe you wouldn't be)

My Littlest Helper

The party itself was set for 2pm, and people showed up right on time.  We grilled out burgers and dogs, had potato salad, pasta salad, chips and dips/salsa, veggies, and a cheese/cracker/meat platter.  We rearranged our deck furniture a bit to give people more room to sit, and I made a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart to replace our canopy, which I hadn't realized we had thrown out (it had rusted due to too many days on a sandy, salt-watery beach :-) ). 

Good friends, new and old share some fun stories

The cousins play with bubbles

Sister pic!

Cassy and her Aunt

My niece and Grandpa TomTom Nusbaum

Another niece showing what to do with a bubble wand

Brother Pic!

Cassy found her belly button.  It had been missing.

Cassidy and Uncle Dylan

Swingers.

Cassy and Daddy

My niece tells my sis-in-law a fun secret :-)

I considered this cookout portion part A of the party.  Part B took us inside for some games -- Munchkin, Poker, and bowling -- Demetri Martin's Comedy, and more food!  Eric made a pulled pork BBQ for dinnertime.  Michelle brought over some deviled eggs which I'm pretty sure lasted five minutes.  More macaroni salad, more veggies, etc etc.  And of course, Eric's birthday cake, complete with 30 candles!

The saddest Munchkin cards, ever

My niece Maddy channeling her inner Hepburn

Cassy came right in and just plunked herself down among the crowd

Nice turnout for Eric's party!

You can just fit 30 candles on a Cookies 'n Cream icecream cake :-)

Poker Night!  1st:  Jim Cillian, 2nd:  Carly Nusbaum 3:  Matt Silverthorn.

Call!

Manda did well for her FIRST EVER poker night!

Beach Crew :-)

Watching Kick @$$

Some good, ol' fashioned Wii Bowling

So there you have it . . . 13 straight hours of birthday party fun! 

Oh, but the party continues . . .

On Eric's actual birthday, that Tuesday, I took him to dinner at Wildfire in Tyson's Galleria.  Our good friend Michelle (Auntie 'Chelle) watched Cassy for us, to give us a date night :-)  I felt bad that Eric hadn't seen his little girl at all on his birthday (since she sleeps until 8:30 and he leaves for work at 8a, and we'd be getting home after she went to sleep), so I took a picture for him to see just how cute she looked that day:

On Eric's Birthday

PLUS, Cassidy designed a very special birthday card for her daddy:

The Kissing Hand is a special book about a little Raccoon

We went to dinner, and dined on spinach and artichoke dip, crab chowder and french onion soup, au graten potatos, and bone-in aged filet.  For dessert, the waiter brought Eric a complimentary to-die-for warm chocolate brownie cake and ice cream, with hot fudge, with a candle for his birthday!

At Wildfire

Make a Wish!

After dinner, we headed home and Eric had more suprises waiting for him -- a donkey birthday card which was so obnoxious it was funny, and one last birthday gift:

This card laughs at you by hee-hawing.  Cassy totally cracked up.

Sport-Brella!

Michelle stayed over a bit longer to learn how to play Carcassonne.  We ended up playing two games -- I think she won both of them.  Beginners luck?  Maybe.  Lots of fun?  Totally!

Happy Birthday Eric!!