My dad Calvin (or “Cal”, “Maverick”, “Calvino”, and “Papa” to the grandkids) had a birthday last week and my family partied in style. My little sister Emmy and her hubby had the brilliant idea of creating tee shirts for the occasion, celebrating the birthday boy’s love of flying. Dad has been a private pilot for about 13 years and has built two of his small planes himself! There isn’t much he’d rather do than hang out at the hangar with his planes and pilot buddies, or fly off in to land on tiny grass air strips in the remote corners of the West. Or spend an evening surrounded by his hilarious children and wild grandchildren, all donning “iFly Air Calvino” tees:)
Everyone had a tee, even the young ones, and since we all arrived at slightly different times, it took a minute for my cute dad to figure out that those black tees were all about him! He finally got one of his own, and came out wearing it saying “What’s up with all of these nerds in Air Calvino shirts!” I think he loved it.
The spread was delish. Chicken and veggie kabobs, brown rice, fresh bread, cherries and grapes and mint lemonade (my new obsession).
Uncle Josh is a favorite with the nieces and nephews…maybe because he lets them do whatever they want!
Cute Milo loves being surrounded by his cousins and aunts and uncles. It makes me remember why lots of people move back to Utah after being away. An extended family is a nice thing to have around!
Uncle Rob (Salt Lake’s newest Periodontist, in case you need an implant!) and dear baby Luke looking great in iFly.
I adore my mom’s patio. I don’t know where she got those lightbulb strands, but they are perfect on the wood beam ceiling. And the lamps are great, too. I think those came from Ikea.
Auntie Em and Jane have a special bond.
Could Utah summer evenings be any nicer? The sun sets and the air cools just enough to feel completely comfortable outside. I love it.
Darling aunt Angie. She and my oldest brother have been divorced for ten years, but she’s still like a sister and I love that she always joins in the fun.
After dinner, we each got a build-your-own plane kit and each tried our hand at this hobby that my dad loves so much. It was pretty easy, if you ask me:)
Some of us struggled more with the construction than others…turns out it helped to look at the instructions on the back of the package;)
Even in styrofoam my dad built it like a pro!
Next up were the Air Races! We divided into teams to see whose plane flew the truest.
I can tell you it sure wasn’t mine. And it definitely wasn’t my dads after Milo ran to retrieve it for him and crushed the wings…
As it got darker and darker, things got crazier and crazier…
Milo with the birthday boy…and his crushed plane:)
What a group!
Even tiny Eliot rocked iFly.
(I’ll show you how I turned his toddler-sized tee shirt into a one-month romper soon!)
And after all the fun, of course the cake. Homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, Dad’s favorite.
And the wish…
It was a sweet evening. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!
