Birthday season

I'm not sure if I've mentioned how July is full o' birthdays around here.  The country on the 4th, followed by Nana, followed by the little prince, and then- finally in his words- Jimdad's rolls around.  We were on vacation at the beach, but I forgot the camera.  Suffice to say that waves and finding shark's teeth made for a great celebration.  And then... we hit the road.

All the way, straight through, to Baltimore (!) to see a friend.  We haven't done a long road trip in about 2 years, and not a drive-straight trip in over 5... so it was almost like our younger carefree days.  With a bundle of joy strapped in with us, of course.  And then, after visiting our friend and CONTINUING to drive into PA, we had a great suprise for jim's folks, who didn't know we were coming.

And you know what we did the very next day?  Hopped into the car for a 3.5 drive to see the Steelers in their training camp.  Yes, that was related to Jim's bday- a very spread out and lowkey celebration this year.  But I've always wanted to take him, so ...

The rest of our days were filled with:  a much-too-quick video call to a special nephew who celebrated his bday, a suprise (again) birthday dinner for Pop (70 years young), and lots and lots of cousin play and fun.  And a lil' arguing (no suprise with 3 kids under 4).   How's YOUR summer going?

Happy Birthday, K-man!

What a weekend!  First, we saw a fire truck parked outside Publix.  So we snapped a pic.



Then, we saw firefighters inside, and they invited us back to the station.  We brought them chocolate cake, and got a grand tour.

 Then, this morning we had a party at our place.

And, of course there was the cake.  I forgot to snap a photo of the way cool #3 sparkler candle, or of the truck and fireman decorations before the kids grabbed 'em, but here's the base.

One of his presents was a nifty costume/uniform.

And what's a fireman without his truck?!

2 Sayings and a Winner

In reverse order.... the winner of the book giveaway is... Patty!  Thank the random number generator who picked comment #5 .  I'll get it in the mail to you by Monday :)  If you are SO disappointed that you didn't win, you could always order the book here for paperback or here for online or here for kindle.  It'll be the best $4-12 you've spent all year!

***

One morning this week, I was cooking eggs and muttered "oh shoot." (Score one for mom, since I used a G-rated word!).  Sous chef Kaden asked me "Why did you say -oh shoot-?"  
Me:  Because I burned the butter. 
Him:  Ohhhh nooooo, not again!

***

Kaden is playing with Nana and tells her to drive the boat.  She starts pretending to hold a wheel, and makes the rrr-rrr-rrr engine sound.  "Oh, that engine smells bad, " Kaden says, then starts coughing and covers his mouth with his shirt.  "Are you okay?" Nana asks.    Kaden gives her a look and says, "Nana, I'm PRETENDING here."

BOOK GIVEAWAY! DOUBLE YAY!

YAY #1!  A dude wrote a book. I got to read it, and it's GOOD. There's a quest, which is always fun. And Viking mythology, which is either geeky cool or you'll learn a lil' bit (like me). And a strong heroine who faces fears and takes responsibility and... oh, I won't spoil it. But she's genuinely nice, for goodness sake, and not a wallflower at all. The book does have a great plot- involved enough to keep your interest- and the snarky humor helps things along too :)

And don't think I'm just saying that because the author is my brother. I mean, sibling loyalty only goes so far. But I really think YOU are going to like this Valda chick, and dig her adventures, and I'm willing to state so publicly. Even more so, I'm willing to give YOU the book- yes, your very own copy. Well, one of you anyways.

YAY#2 ! It's a giveaway contest! Contests are so fun! Check the book out over here and if you want a free book, then enter the contest by leaving me a comment here. Tell me what piques your interest from the sample pages... or tell me one of your other good reads for the summer...

Leave your comment before July 13, and if the random number generator says so, this could be you:

Full disclosure: Yes, I bought the book with my own moula. No, my brother didn't make me buy it. No, he didn't put me up to this wildly fun contest, either. So yes, it was my own brilliant idea and I'm not getting compensated in any way.... happy, legal eagle blog patroller types?