Early in the day, Susan and Walter came over to borrow four of our kitchen chairs for the party. Brother Larry called, then Betty did. I got Pat's present wrapped and put a few Valentine gifts for Joely in a gift bag, then dressed to go to the Women's Club meeting.
Stayed for part of the Tricky Tray event, but had to leave early to get Pat and go up to Alison's.
We had great fun at Pat's birthday dinner. There was just us, A. and Mike, and the Phillips Four. Loved seeing the things they've done to the addition: The newly-stained chairs look great (table is being done at the company and is still to come) and they've added some wonderful framed pictures-- mostly outdoor subjects taken by Mike.
We had a ball watching Little Tristan ("T") crawl all over the place, looking just like a wind-up toy as he scooted around. He grabs everything within reach and of course, it immediately goes into his mouth. When he was in his walker, he spied my (bright red) pocketbook on a chair and managed to pull it down and chew on the strap. We just let him do it; I'm sure it felt good on his budding teeth. He shared the floor with Lulu, who has the unlovely habit of licking T's face. I kept pushing him away, but T didn't seem to mind. At six months, T pulls himself up and even stands alone.
I brought Pat's cake and we let Joely put the candles on. Alison gave him some "ever lit" joke ones, which revive after they've seemingly been blown out. Well, these were really persistant and they burned down so low they started to melt some of the icing. Alison ran to get a glass of water and she and both Joels finally got them off, but burnt some fingers in the process. We all thought that was hysterical and everybody loved the cake.
I ate everything, including salmon, chicken, scalloped potatoes, broccoli and carrots, and several slices of delectable freshly-made Italian bread. It wasn't the same as Aunt Maggie's, of course (that would transport you to heaven in one butter-smeared slice), but it was close; Mike makes it with a bread machine. Of course, I topped it off with cake and ice cream--one meal isn't going to put all the weight back on.
Ellen called while we were eating and Mike when we got home, which was about 7:45. E. also sent a gift card and Mike said his present is coming soon. I could see Susan's party was still going on when we got in, but I decided not to go over because I was afraid if I didn't get to bed, I'd oversleep today.