Is 60 the new 50?

Yesterday was Chuck's 60th birthday, so Pete and I headed to the lake to celebrate with him (and my mom, Karen, and my nephews). I must admit that it wasn't that long ago that I thought 60 is really old. But I think my dad looks/acts pretty damn good for 60 (my mom too, but she's not 60 yet). Granted, I may be biased, but the way he throws and totes Brenden and Jaxson around...he just doesn't seem to act his age, so to speak. I guess he doesn't fit the "old curmudgeon" image (yet). It also helps that, as he puts it, "I've been pretty lucky to have good health". Anyway, we had a fun day playing with the kids (I think I did Brenden's dinosaur puzzle with him 100 times), drinking wine, eating a big dinner, and stuffing ourselves with birthday cake.

Then Chuck, Pete, and I watched a movie on my dad's new plasma t.v. which was a birthday gift from my mom. While I can't say that I ever get that excited about television technology, I have to admit, that t.v. is pretty cool.

As you may have noticed from the photos, Jaxson is "Poppa's" boy. He screams if Poppa goes outside or downstairs without him...he always wants to be on the go just like Poppa.

On a side note, we stopped at Fleet Farm on our way out of town this afternoon--that stop is becoming part of our usual departure routine. I normally just get "toe warmers" (to put in my cycling shoes during the winter) at Fleet Farm, but during this particular stop, I hit the motherload--they had their Sorel's on sale. I've always wanted a pair of good Sorel's, but I just haven't been able to justify paying full price given all of the warm winters for the past few years...so I've been watching the Sorel prices online all winter waiting for a good sale. My patience paid off today. Fleet Farm also has an entire "John Deere" clothing line, which included a full display of women's socks (who knew there was such a market?)...I couldn't resist buying a pair of "I love John Deere" socks. Plus, my uncle works there...so I always feel like I'm helping pay for his kids' college when I buy things there.

On another side note, here's my rant for the day: I went to get a birthday card for my dad the other day. It usually takes me forever to pick out a card--I can never find the right one, and I end up reading through all of the them before settling on one that just doesn't meet my expectations. But I figured this year it would be easy...I'd just head to the "60th Birthday" section. So I started browsing through the "decade birthday" tabs--they had 30th, 40th, 50th, 70th, 80th, 90th, and 100th--but no 60th. What's up with that? So, as usual, I read through all of them and had to settle for "The Retirement Village People" (and their song, "A-A-R-P"), which Pete had found for me.

Happy 60th Chuck!!

S.S.