Friday night 06/14/19 of my 70th birthday weekend was just really relaxing. The weather was so nice that Sue and I went out into the screen porch to start the weekend off with some backgammon. We had so much fun that we played right through while we ate pizza for dinner.

I'm not much on presents or such stuff, but I did have 1 request for the weekend. I wanted to watch a couple of movies that I really like. So, tonight we watched my favorite movie, the 1987 classic, Wall Street. Grand, just grand.

Saturday I was out in the yard in the morning for a couple of hours cutting the grass and trimming. Then off to the food store for shopping. Man, were the roads full of traffic, particularly motorcycles. There were literally hundreds of bikes out enjoying the nice, though overcast, weather. It was the final weekend of the annual Laconia Bike Week. Though we saw a lot of bikes yesterday, because of the rain it was minimal in comparison to how many were out today.

I took the back way both to the store and home, but even then there were long lines of traffic creeping into and through the Alton traffic circle. I had wanted to stop there to get gas not only for the car, but to replenish my gas for the mower. No way was I getting in there; I just kept driving. I'll do it some other time....

Sue and I spent quite a bit of time that afternoon working on a children's book she wrote. My long time karate disciple David Landers in Effingham, IL has been kind enough to do the illustrations for the book. He did such a great job of capturing just the right sense of the text where Sue thought a drawing would be nice. My job is to do the initial layout and design, and so we're struggling through font styles and sizes, as well as text and illustration placement on the page. Great fun though!

Saturday night was my second movie pick: the really well done 2009 J.J. Abrams directed, Star Trek. Had to have the volume way up for that, particularly the part where young James Kirk drives through the desert to the thundering sounds of The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage". Sue just looked at me and mumbled something to the extent of, "you're 70 now, right?" Yeah, sort of... kind of... maybe....

Though sore from my landscaping adventures yesterday, I pulled myself out of bed around 7:30 am Sunday morning. Sue fixed a really nice breakfast of eggs, sausage, and fresh made lemon muffins she had just baked that morning. That was a great start to my birthday! She cut me loose for the day, only cautioning me to: "...be at the door ready to leave in the car at 1:00 pm." When I questioned what's up, her reply was that it was none of my business, and to just be at the door ready to go.

At 1:15 pm we were out the door, and in the car on the way to what turned out to be a lovely party at Marissa's. Colin arrived shortly after we got there, and Mia snatched him up to go see her room as fast as she had grabbed Sue's hand and did the same to her when we had just barely walked in through the door.

Sue and me arriving for the party!

I'm ready!

With my "70th" balloon.

Marissa had bought a big bottle of Valpolicella that we enjoyed through the evening, though she and Sue were specializing in some Margarita recipe concoction.

And here comes Uncle Colin! Mia rushed him like tsunami before he could even say hello!

Snacks ready to go....

Marissa had decorated so nicely for the party.

After grabbing some of those snacks, Marissa took us all into the side sitting room to show the present she and Colin had bought for me: a really wonderful wooden bench! She said it could go outside, but that puppy is going into my library! It's perfect, and has a nice old world charm to it.

We all had a great time visiting, with Mia in constant motion the whole time. After awhile, Marissa started cooking the potatoes and beans, and Gary threw the steaks and chicken onto the grill. It wasn't long before we were all gathered around the table for a great meal!

Just prior to everyone diving for their food! What a great spread!

Marissa stuck her phone up on top of the refrigerator to get this group picture.

And to top it all off was a great birthday kiss from Sue!

After dinner we all went into the sitting room. Marissa brought out a platter of cupcakes she had made, and just as Mia and I were getting ready to blow out the candle, Marissa got Chuck and Denise on a video call. How great was that! And we got to see both Graham and his girl friend Julie, and Braden.

I think they saw Mia and I blow out the birthday candle, but in all of the fun, I'm just not sure. If not, guys: it was a lot of fun! And to quote Norman from On Golden Pond: "I want to thank all of you for coming all the way here from Disneyland... to witness this historic event. Now that I'm out of hot air... I'm gonna need a little assistance to get these candles out."

Mia and I winding up to blow out the candle!

One of the cupcakes.

In a ploy to distract everyone from her being hauled off to bed, Mia insisted that Sue dance with her until Sue finally led her up to her room.

Sue and Mia dancing to the tunes!

After a long time had passed, Marissa went up to rescue Sue from motor mouth Mia. They finally got her to settle down, and rejoined the celebration. It had been a wonderful party. It was so great to have also had that video call with Chuck and family; that was a nice touch.

But we had to head out for home just after 7:00 pm to take care of Beau. When we got home, Sue put the 2 balloons that said "70" on each side of the mantel, bordering all of my birthday cards.

Balloons and cards on the mantel.

Chuck sent me these sailing socks for my birthday, and I wore them with pride!

And that's how you celebrate a milestone birthday weekend! Doesn't get any better than that, for sure!