the big nine-o

Two weeks ago my grandmother hit a huge milestone.  She turned the great big 9-0!  And we thought it was reason enough to celebrate.  So I flew east to Wilmington Delaware, with my parents, for a quick trip to celebrate Great Nanny.  And boy did we keep her busy….

The day before her birthday we took her to run a few errands, and then out to lunch at the Charcoal Pit.  A terribly greasy spoon of a place, that we somehow always manage to make a lunch stop at when we visit.  Who doesn't need a Philly cheesesteak and a milk shake for lunch once in awhile?

While eating there, we met up with some of the other family who just flew in to be part of the celebration -- my mom's brother Nick (who worked at the Charcoal Pit in high school!) and his family.  A great start to the birthday weekend festivities!

cousin Elizabeth, my mom, Great Nanny, Uncle Nick, myself, cousin Carl, cousin Carl's girlfriend Ellen

The next morning, Nanny's actual 90th birthday, we were getting ready to take her out for the day, when her retirement home announced there was a carbon monoxide leak in the building and everyone had to evacuate.  Talk about excitement!  I've never seen so many fire trucks in one place!  We thought they handled getting that many elderly folks out of the building rather well, and luckily we managed to get our stuff and scoot out with Nanny to avoid sitting around much longer.  Everyone ended up being ok in the end.

So instead of sitting around her place, watching the firetrucks, we drove down to Chesapeake City, Maryland for lunch.  Tasty crab cakes in a cute old town!

Later that evening we had a huge family dinner, with Nanny's 3 kids and their spouses, and almost all the grandkids in attendance.  A great honor for a great lady.

me with cousin Lara

 And after dinner, we of course had cake and ice cream…. before I left I was talking to Ry about how Great Nanny was having a birthday and how I was flying east to help her celebrate, and his only question was if she had ever had cake before.  Cute!  So we made sure she had cake on this birthday as well.

Nanny with almost all of her grandkids

Nanny with her kid-in-laws, Aunt Nancy, my dad, and Uncle Walt

and Nanny with her kids, Aunt Kelley, my mom, and Uncle Nick

On our last day in town, we took a lovely walk at the Hagley museum/garden in Wilmington, and just enjoyed spending some time together before we had to catch our plane home.  It was so great to see family, and to get to spend some good time with Nanny.  Hope she enjoyed it as much as I did!

happy birthday to this lovely lady!

goofballs!