Wrapping up the vacation...

...yep, the party was a huge success. No snags or problems and a lot of fun. My brother was surprised the most by our appearance and that of his little brother. That was pretty cool. I have to admit, I was sooooo excited when he said he could make it - he lives in Louisiana! That was awesome!

So, Sunday we just hung around the house and visited. Just what we needed for sure.

Monday we went to the beach! Us landlubbers really enjoyed that. I'm not really a beach lover but it sure was nice to be somewhere so foreign! 

We stopped at a little place on the San Clemente pier for a drink and a fishy snack :-)

It was another fantastic day!

Ok, I don't really care about seagulls but hey, I don't get to see them that often and this one didn't mind standing still for a picture.

And it's not everyday you see a flock of pelicans!

Then we drove up the coast a little and stopped to check out this beauty.

while we were there, this seahawk flew up to the top of the mast to eat it's lunch. 

I miss palm trees

 I tried to talk him into buying this hat. He wouldn't. BUT, he let me take the picture!

We even went bowling one night! Really, when was the last YOU bowled? Mom waxed us all! Seriously, decades since she's picked up a bowling ball and she beat everyone! Me? I TOTALLY sucked! But I was great at being bad at it!

It was wonderful. And I loved that the girls spent so much time with us. That was really wonderful. I didn't expect them to at all so it was an added family bonus. They were delightful to be around.

I love my brother and I can't wait to see him again!!

more vacay party pictures

What a GREAT day for a party!!!

Cousin Monty and his wife Carol drove down from Ventura!

Cousin Ron and his wife Kathleen and their son Justin;

 Cousin Rick

da mama :-)

Awww

Jeff and his siblings!

 That's nice 

 Denae and her brother Mark

Jeff and his girls!

brothers!!

Poor Greta

Geez, poor Greta. When I took her in last Saturday to get her shots, the vet told me she has BAD teeth...just like Pepper (and me!). She also had a couple lumps he wanted to remove. I dropped her off yesterday morning and picked her up after work. The Vet said that she was 'under' for about 2 hours so she might be pretty groggy the rest of the night. Nah, she's was a trooper! Well, except for the whole cone head thing. whoa. She is REALLY struggling with the cone! Damnit! I feel so bad for her! When Pepper had to wear the cone, if she ran into something she just said "crap" and kept going. When Greta runs into something, she becomes immobilized. It's so, so pitiful. Sigh

So, he pulled all her front teeth, top and bottom, except for her canines, and one molar.

Then, he removed this pea sized bump on her neck which turned out to be a lot bigger under her skin so there are sutures, and zapped off a couple other ones;

Then ther was this big fatty  cyst on the inside  of her back leg. He took that out because if it got bigger, he wasn't going to be able to remove it and it would become a problem for her.

Poor Greta!!! Ugh. I hope she gets the hang of the cone. She has to wear it for 10 days!!

vacation

...more party pictures!

 He was pretty flustered with the whole surprise thing.

I LOVE that the whole family jumped in! Chelsey made the cake

AND the cupcakes!

And the food just kept coming!!!

Nachos, tacos, burritos, chicken, rice, potato salad...we had it ALL!

The Photo Booth was a big hit with the young/hip crowd :-)

and Ashley made this for her Dad! So clever and creative!

I loved how surprised the 35 and under crowd was about the cost of things,

 the year my brother was born! 

...more to come!

HELLO!!!!

I know, I know. I've been away!

So, a couple months ago I decided that my brother needed to have a surprise birthday party.

Originally, I wanted it to be in Vegas, because that’s where Mom’s 50^th surprise party was and where my 50^th birthday was.

That wasn't really going to work out though. Plus, he didn't actually want a party. Mwahahahahahaha!

Everything worked out perfectly!!!! And even though he says he doesn't care about his birthday, he was really feeling the love :-)

First, we had to get everything ready. We could do that because his wife had whisked him away for an overnight adventure, for their anniversary, the day before the party.

 It was a beautiful day! We were so lucky! Southern California
had been pretty stinkin' hot until WE got there. The high that 
day was only 78-blue skies and lots of sunshine!

The photo booth

 and props! 

Some of the decorations included;

Jeff saw them filming the opening scene to this movie;

 This was the first movie that ever scared him;

and what teenage boy DIDN'T have one of these!

 When he was a kid, he collected beer cans. This was one of his prized cans!

 I found it on eBay

 Oh nooooo! The best part about mr. bill was that A LOT of younger party goers had NO idea who he was!! Yeah, we're old.

 and koozies for everyone!

3 minutes until arrival! Places everybody! !

He was SO surprised!!! After he realized we were there too, then came the biggest surprise! His little brother, who he hasn't seen in maybe 15 years, flew in for the party! It was AWESOME!

...to be continued.