Another birthday partay

So Jack turned 16 and can I tell you I hardly believe I have a kid that age.  But anywho, it was a good day.  The DMV was uncharacteristically well-run and even pleasant that day, and he got his license and insurance and application for a parking pass at high school all taken care of by noon. 

Then in the afternoon, he drove the truck to pick up Grant from his summer class, I already like this!, and then was treated to his birthday meal of choice, beef Manhattan, which he shared with Megan, just the two of them. 

I had never fixed a beef Manhattan before, but I definitely have made my share of mashed potatoes, beef and gravy so it was easy.  I let him take care of the layering so it’d be just like he likes ‘em. 

He definitely liked it!

Here below he’s opening one of his gifts, a case of Diet Ski.  The pricey parking pass was his main gift.  Gary also gave him a vintage box which was a former carburetor kit thing that he picked up and knew Jack would love with its sturdiness, old metal patina, and cool latches.  He was right.  I shoulda taken a picture of that.

No after dinner omelets for this guy, but also no traditional birthday cake.  He wanted a coconut pie.  This was taken after a few hours of sweaty marching band practice and attending a scout committee meeting so we just skipped the candles and got into the pie somewhere after 10 p.m.   

Never too late to celebrate our sweet sixteen.

A license and a smile

Happy 16th, Jack!

Bacon partay and OA

So, now we are full into our run of kid birthdays as we are every summer.  Grant turned 14 on Sunday.  All he asked for was cash and food.  Kinda makes it sound like food is something special.  Poor thing probably never has any, huh?

Yeah, right.  But that is all the kid asked for -- no party with friends, no going somewhere, no other presents, so we did our best to give him what he wanted. 

I started with 3.5 pounds of bacon. He smiled when he was handed that but really beamed once it was cooked.  Add in 6 scrambled eggs and several giant sized pancakes and you have his breakfast. 

 

Then I don’t even know what he had for lunch. I didn’t figure he needed lunch.

Then a large Blizzard for the afternoon snack.

I just looked up this info on caloriecount.com.  Oy!

Oreo Cookies Blizzard Large

Grade:  D+   

Calories: 1,010

I told Gary that with the Blizzard, I was sure I wouldn’t need to start cooking supper until 7pm.  Yep, at 6pm, guess who shows up asking “When is supper?”

!!

I grilled cheeseburgers as requested and put them on Hawaiian buns.  Bacon was there in case anyone wanted to add that, too.  French fries and slaw and corn on the cob also, but all Grant wanted were the bacon cheeseburgers and fries.  I didn’t keep count, but left the table when I started feeling sick from watching how much he was eating. 

And instead of a cake, he said he wanted After Dinner Omelets.  Well, of course.  Who doesn’t?

I refused but Gary cooked them up for him. 

I think he had a very happy birthday. 

And you know what, the kid asks for very little so we indulged.  If a day of gluttonous food consumption is his biggest wish, so be it.  He’s really a pretty fine boy all the other 364 days.  In fact…

Jack and Gary were at scout camp all last week but Grant wasn’t due to having a summer class at the high school.  But Wednesday evening was Family Night and Gary planted a bug that Grant and I should probably come up.  I got Ross to keep the other two kiddos and we took off for Pana. 

This year, Grant was the lone scout out of his troop’s fifty boys to be chosen for Order of the Arrow, an honor society in Boy Scouts determined solely by the vote of his scout peers.  You might remember my excitement the year Jack was selected. 

This one was a solemn ceremony of Native American influence, not quite as intense as Jack’s, but very enjoyable nonetheless.  Darn the modern lights in the top picture, but beyond that, you can see a teepee up a very steep hill lined with torches.  And here in the second picture you can see what became a huge bonfire on that rock structure.  After dark, Grant stood in front of it along with the other boys and men that had been called out from all the different troops.  It was cool!

We are proud of our fourteen year old.