"80"

~~The Gayla Pink Apple~~

My Dad...

My Dad and me - his birthday celebration a couple years ago.

My Dad's actual birthday is October 31st - Halloween!   He will be 80! It fascinates me that his initials are CAT and he was born on Halloween. How ironic!!!

My Dad riding his cute little tractor.

He is a country man and proud to be identified as such! You will most likely see him out and about in the community like this - in his overalls!

My Dad and Me (2013)

We decided to celebrate his 80th birthday with a little/big party instead of a small family kind of thing.

 

The party...

The invitation plus his picture inserted for this blog!

My Mother, Sister, and I spent the last several weeks coordinating and planning my Dad's 80th birthday celebration. 

My parents

We wanted the party to reflect his masculinity more so than the femininity of us three girls/women.  Therefore, we added a rustic masculine touch - well, as rustic and masculine as we three ladies can get, anyway - we are pretty feminine. You could even say we are quite girly girls!

It's an "8"

We used round tables for the food creating the numeral "8."  Round guest tables circled the food table creating the numeral "0."  I doubt anyone noticed that little detail - I didn't expect anyone would - that's ok - but, you have to admit, it's pretty creative, clever, and cute! 

Oak logs serve as pedestals for a variety of cakes.

Black tableclothes serve as a backdrop to the authenic oak wood logs as pedestals for the food/cake presentation. These logs were actually cut from an oak tree on my Dad's property. I like the contrast of the rustic and silver punch bowl. I call it a little bit country and little bit fancy - mix the two and it's JUST RIGHT!!! Pots of zinnia garden flowers serve as centerpieces.

A fruit tray always make the table pretty!

Mock Champagne Punch

Basket of mixed garden plants

Guest tables finish the decor with black table cloths and suede fabric scrunched around baskets of mixed garden plants --- ornamental cabbage, yellow and purple pansies, black ice, salvia and purple ornamental pepper plants.

My Dad and Me at the party.

My Dad with my sister, Vickie, at the party.

It was nice to see so many friends and family together to celebrate Charles, Daddy, and last, but not least, aka Grandad! 

Here are family photos taken at the party...

The four of us...L to R:  My Mother, Sister, Daddy, and Me.

My parents and my family

L to R:  my husband, Randy; me; Mother; Daddy; and my daughter, Blair

L to R:  Blair, Daddy, and Me

My sister, Vickie, and her family with our parents.

My parents with their grandson, Nick, and his family

L to R zigzag: Grandad, Mack, Shannon, Arden, and Nick

Nick is the only grandson.  He and his family live close to my parents.  Their only child, Arden, brings a lot of joy to my parents - she gets off the school bus at my parents house - where she waits for her parents to pick her up after they get off work.  

My parents with grandaughter, Natalie, and her family

L to R zigzag: Grandad, Mack, Wesley, Alex, Natalie, and Ethan

Natalie, and her family live in Dover.   It was wonderful seeing them.

Blair and Grandad -- The youngest grandaughter, my Blair!

Blair lives in NYC and just happened to here for the party!  Well, maybe, I did sway the date in favor of this particular weekend because my daughter was going to be in town...just maybe, I did!  Oh well, you don't blame me, do you?  You would have done the same thing, right?  

Grandad and the great grandchildren.

L to R: Alex, Grandad, Arden, and Ethan

Many close friends and relatives celebrated with us.  I regret not getting pictures of his brother and sister, etc.  But, in my defense, I was a tad busy during the party and only took photos of our immediate family before guests arrived. 

 

All in all - the day was great - about 100 friends and family members celebrated my Dad.  He definitely doesn't look 80 years old. 

 

Cheers,

Gayla