Family Matters - Abby Turns Two

Every Wednesday week I write about my family. Welcome to it. (Forgot to hit the Publish button yesterday—oops)

Hello again wayward travelers. What has been going on with the fam? Why Abby’s 2nd Birthday, that’s what!

As I’ve been saying for weeks, preparations were in the works for a pig-infested get-together that unfortunately didn’t include the always-awesome Jim and Lana (complete with copper-tops) but did include family and friends from all over.

You ready for pictures? You don’t have to tell me twice…

This was another Ericka creation that came out great. The eyes are my favorite part.

The cake looked at me funny. It had to be eviscerated.

It wasn’t pretty.

But it was delicious.

Interlude: Evan Struggles With The Grill

Seriously people, I’m just not that good at grilling out. I never know how many coals, how hot or how cold and I couldn’t even operate the lighter fluid correctly. For some reason when I venture out of the confines of my cheap Wal-Mart grill that holds about five coals, I lose all sense of scope and the idea of how many coals vs. how much heat they produce.

Here’s what a genius I am: After finally getting the damn coals to light (thanks half-bottle of lighter fluid!), the burgers begin cooking and everything is grand…except the coals are really hot. I mean crazy hot. i.e., the burgers are getting singed not actually ‘cooked’ hot. Crap.

Grease puddles in the middle of the tin foil and what does this genius do? I poke a hole to let the grease drain and then the grease hits the coals…

…whoof. The smoke blinds me and the burgers are consumed in flame. We close the lid, survey the damage, but two things are certain: One, I put way too many coals in that grill. Secondly, the tin foil isn’t strong enough to stop the fire.

The coals are actually melting the tin foil. This isn’t dollar store crap, this is Heavy Duty Reynold’s Wrap.

After adding snow and water to cool the fire down, I eventually get some food cooked and everyone is fed.

And believe it or not, cooking the food is something I enjoy doing. I just don’t do it very well.

I need a manual or something.

Anyway, back to the pictures:

As you can see, Abby is all about the shiny bling. Bling bling.

Bling.

After the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game came and went (complete with stickers not an actual pin for the tail…), the pinata was broken out and good times were had by all. All of the kids took turns giving it a whack and it took about 20 minutes to break the thing open.

The candy inside? Smushed and bashed to bits. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Finally came time for the cake and ice cream and singing. Somewhere, the guys who demand cash every time you sing “Happy Birthday” are looking for me.

So happy birthday to my baby, I hope she had as much fun as we did making it happen.

 In the morning I'd awake and couldn't remember
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