Belated Birthdays

We are not usually near our families when birthdays roll around, so sometimes they get celebrated late.

We celebrated my dad's about a month late. I have dubbed him "3/4s," since this year he turned 75. We had quite the celebration: We hung out in the RV. Bill and Dad played chess with their usual intensity, while Mom, Bea and I played Phase 10.

Mom (who is on a very strict diet) and I ate salad, while the rest of the crew enjoyed White Castles. (A steak dinner would not have made Dad any happier and, since it was indeed his birthday, White Castles it was.)

Dad Contemplating his Birthday Cake

Bill, Bea, and Sylvia at Mineo's
(Bea is holding a small bottle of balsamic vinegar, that we hope is delicious on her salads.) 

For Bea's birthday, we went to Mineo's, an authentic Italian restaurant in Clayton. Everything was delicious but the eggplant parmigiano was was especially amazing. I haven't had Italian food that good since we ate in Boston's North End a few years back with Sandra Marrar.

We knew that we needed to celebrate Bea's birthday for sure, because her next one is soon approaching in January. We were only nine months late...what can we say? If we would have waited any longer, we would have been celebrating two of her birthdays at one time!