Lumberjack Birthday

My dad kills it as a lumberjack

My baby sister turned thirty this week. Which is so weird ... since I'm only 27 ...

There's only one way to celebrate 30. Big! You celebrate it big (unless you are very very pregnant. Then you know that your family will make it up to you when you turn 40 ... or 28 ...). So Em, her friends, and I threw a Lumberjack dance party near downtown Minneapolis (I wanted to called it downtown ... my editor/human GPS sidekick disagrees). There was good food, TONS of good friends, good music, and a photo booth. Oh my ... the photo booth was good fun! There were plenty of fun props - including a blue ox, a chainsaw, and a flask - and we will laugh and laugh at those photos forever!

Mike's sister and our nephews came down for the shindig - and we got the bonus of keeping them at our house for the weekend. I'll take any excuse for them to come visit! We also got to host Mike's mom and Bill, who came down to hang out too. They joined us at the party and then took our kids for the evening so we can party like the 27-year-olds we are ... We felt so lucky to have a house full of people we love!!

Tracey, the boys, and I headed up early to help with the setup. Then Mike, Gma, and Gpa came up with the kids after Mike's hockey game and dinner. I had told the small Vs that if they were well-behaved, they could come dance for a little while. Best move ever! My people like a party! There was plenty of junk food to speak to sweet Q's soul. And Dec and Fiona can move it on the dance floor. In fact, Declan was doing knee slides across the floor and busting a move like no one's business. After filling her tummy, Quinn also got in on the dance action. It was so fun to have them there for a while.

After the kids headed home to bed, Mike and I continued to cut it up on the dance floor, socialize, and just enjoy an adult night out. My cousin Parker came in from NYC and his dad came up from Texas - so it was really fun to get some time to visit with them. The room that Em rented was perfectly suited for the party - a very relaxed atmosphere that was classed up with a whole bunch of flannel!

We didn't get home until 1:00am, but the kids had gone to bed late enough (and danced hard enough) that they slept in a bit as well and we didn't get moving until around 8:30. In small V world, that's practically noon!

We wound down the celebration weekend with "grunch" (grilling lunch) at our house on Sunday for all the relatives. And then a family nap after everyone left. Apparently no one here parties like a 27-year-old anymore

Siblings

Siblings ... the next generation