Party weekend

On Saturday morning we headed up to New England.  First for a stop at my grandparents' apartment in Cambridge to celebrate my grandmother's 86th birthday:

Grandma Sonia with her granddaughter and 2 great-grandsons

She looks great for 86!  She was so happy to have all her family all around her.  My mom made a delicious chocolate cake, there was Prosecco, cheese, and fruit-- all my major food groups.

5 of my grandparents' 6 great-grandchildren (and me)

My parents, sister, Eric, me, and our little angels

Then Eric took our boys to meet his parents in New Hampshire, and handed them off.  Then Eric turned around and came back to Cambridge so that we could attend a surprise engagement celebration for his friends Juliette and Michael.  After the engagement party we drove up to Maine to start our vacation there.

My mother-in-law, Pat, planned a mini-birthday party for the boys since none of the family will be able to make it to their bigger celebration at home.  Their cousins were supposed to attend, but instead my sister-in-law was taking them to urgent care clinics-- our niece Myah had pneumonia and an ear infection, and our nephew Kiptyn had bronchiolitis.  How awful for them!

We had Eric's grandparents and aunt Annette for a big lunch.

Benjamin and Asher waiting for a birthday lunch

Eric's grandmother brought ham and beans, and we ate that ham like it was going out of style.

The family enjoying lunch

Then there were cupcakes!  Pat brought out candles so we could sing Happy Birthday to the boys.

Moments after this photo was taken, Benjamin reached for the candle, and Pat gasped and drew it back.

Benjamin burst into tears!

He quieted down with a hug, we started singing Happy Birthday over again, and then it was time to eat dessert!

I gave Benjamin and Asher each half of a cupcake.  Asher seemed to catch on to cupcake-eating very quickly.

But they both seemed to love dessert.

Unfortunately, they seemed to have some upset tummies the next day, so maybe all that food wasn't such a good idea.  After cupcakes, we opened the boys' gifts, and then they went down for naps.

We are enjoying our time here, even if it is very cold!  Also, our nieces and nephew have been sick (pneumonia, ear infections, bronchiolitis), so we haven't seen them yet, but hopefully tomorrow they'll be well enough for a visit.  I am also enjoying my tradition of ice cream everyday, I am so lucky my brother-in-law owns an ice cream shop!