50th

My parents both turn 50 within a couple weeks of each other so we had a combined 50th birthday celebration for them last Saturday, followed by a celebration of my Grandma Lyla's 75th birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma!
My sister, Amanda, had the idea of how exactly we should celebrate our parents turning 50. Her idea was simple but brilliant. We would be spending the day in a way none of us had since the oldest, Emily, got married, which was 8 years ago. The idea: all of the kids (me and my siblings) would just hang out with our parents all day just like in the old days before we became grown-ups (without spouses or kids--eventhough I hate to leave my babies and my Clay behind, but we all agreed that it would be fun to kind of pretend it was just the 8 of us again.) We had such a great time together! We started the day with breakfast at Mimi's.

Then we went bowling. My dad was definitely the strongest player, with Mikey and Amanda not too far behind. I did so poorly that for the second game, I tried switching hands to see if that would help. It didn't.

After bowling, we went back to my parents house to play our favorite card game, spoons, plus some others. There were moments of laughing so hard that I cried (e.g. when soda came out of Amanda's nose, when my mom was caught hiding some cards under the table). We also did some singing round the piano. It was fantastic.
Next, we went to Mikey's basketball game. Here are all the girls (in order I might add) Emily, Amy, Amanda, Stephanie, and Katie (with my mom in back). The game was neck and neck and Mikey made some great shots. In the end, they lost in overtime. (Despite how the picture looks, we weren't the only ones in attendence;) After the game it was time to head over to my Grandma's for her party. It was such a wonderful day!

Me and Emily

Mikey, Steph, Katie