G.G.'s 90th!

In early April, Sarah, Callie, and Reese flew out to California to help get ready for Great-Grandma Lucas's 90th birthday celebration. John followed them out there in time to make it to the party. We weren't going to miss the opportunity to both wish Hazel a happy birthday in person and to see all the Lucas family members who would be there as well.

Before the party officially started, the immediate family gathered to take a group picture. With eighteen people overall and five children four and below, you can imagine that this picture took some doing. Reese decided to make it extra challenging, however. What you cannot see in this picture is that Reese and Sarah smelled of fresh puke. That's right, we had just parked the car in front of the house when Reese decided to throw up on herself, her mother, and the car seat. Nothing says it's time to party like a child smelling of vomit.

Thankfully, we got a change of clothes for Reese. Please note, however, that the change of clothes came after the picture. She was dressed for a family portrait, and throw-up or no throw-up, that dress was going to be worn for the picture! Sarah also got a new outfit courtesy of Haley. The picture came out well, and Reese was fine from that point forward. Party on!

If you know Great Grandma Lucas, you know that the joys of her life are her two sons. And they are a photogenic threesome. Of course, this was one of hundreds of pictures Hazel smiled for during the party. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with the guest of honor. And if you know Great Grandma Lucas, you know she was more than happy to oblige.

Callie had a great time at the party as well. GA doesn't miss any details in planning these events. There was a kids table equipped with dozens of activities as well as a blow up bouncy house set up in the driveway. All the little cousins had a blast. It was surreal to see the next generation of the Lucas family running around together while their parents sat around wondering when they stopped being the youngest generation.

Thankfully we were out in California for a week so we got the opportunity to hang out with GG several times. In fact the day after the party she came over to Gayle's house with Dan for breakfast. Callie was quick to invite GG to sit on the couch and play with her. They make a pretty cute couple.

We could share numerous pictures of GG playing with Callie and Cinderella, but the above photo says it all.

Reese also had her time with GG, but she enjoyed getting to know Grandpa Dan. And Grandpa Dan was very happy to entertain all of her requests and get her smiling. He certainly got a kick out of her extra spunk and determined attitude. It's tough not to appreciate how she holds her own.

Grandpa Dan certainly didn't want to show up empty handed, and he brought a couple of containers of bubbles for the girls to play with. As you can imagine these entertained Callie and Reese for a good chunk of time. And what's great about bubbles is you just sit there and blow them while the kids do all the work by running around after them. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Another treat that we got during our stay was the chance to meet Zac's girlfriend Zane. She joined us for breakfast as well and we give her a lot of credit for her willingness to be a part of the family circus. It was wonderful to see how happy they both were and we hope to get to spend more time with the two of them in the future.

Clearly the previous day's encounter with the paparazzi did not deter GG from sitting for more family portraits. Here she is with her son Dan and her grandchildren, Sarah and Zac.

It is not very often that the four of them are in one place together for too long these days, so you have to take advantage of those moments. Thirty years ago a picture of these four fine folks would have been taken in front of a Winnebago in Wyoming. Times have certainly changed.

Although the primary focus for this trip was to celebrate GG's birthday, Grammy took advantage of having her youngest grandchildren around for a week. They got to spend a lot of time together and had a lot of fun. And it was great knowing that it wouldn't be too long before the girls got to spend more time with Grammy when she headed to Lexington.