That’s right, folks, my dad’s 50 this year.  He’s a young-un!!!!!!!!

Actually his birthday isn’t until December, which is what made his surprise party a real surprise.  A lot of weeks and months of planning and secrecy preceded the festivities (which, as you’ll recall, took place the Saturday before the block party here – it was a crazy weekend for me.  Fun, but SO glad it’s over!).  There were 2 surprise guests – my uncle from Florida, who stayed with me the night before, and a life – long friend of dad’s that he hadn’t seen in years.  The look of shock and surprise on his face at seeing these two was just priceless.  And he thought he was going to have an ordinary Saturday of golfing with a buddy and going home for a nap! HA!

Dad with longtime pal Chris.  I believe the correct word to describe how dad felt on seeing him there is “gobsmacked”.

The memorabilia board featuring some old jobs in radio.

From “The Stuff”, a campy (and yes, pretty bad)  horror movie that dad and Chris were in back in the 80’s.  Those b&w photos are with Garrett Morris from SNL and Michael Moriarty from Law & Order.  Another big star they met while filming (who’d like to forget he ever was in that movie) was Paul Sorvino.

Checking out the memo boards.

The gifts!

Neve liked helping grandma play bartender.

Emily liked Booboo.

Oona with her grandpa.

Enjoying the party.

Neve loves her grandpa.

Maddie doesn’t want to hear our funny stories about the old days.  She calls them “TMI”.

Maddie REALLY doesn’t want to hear.

Oona and her great uncle.

Dad with “Uncle Daddy”. (yes, we are very odd people, ok?)

More party people!

I also managed to get through the night without getting any embarrassing pictures taken of me or by me, despite the fact that I drank a few more mangotinis than I should have.  Hey, they were yummy.  The food was good, the people were fun, there may have been some happy crying.

Now go check out The Stuff. I guarantee it’s one of the worst movies you’ll ever see, but check out the newscaster three quarters of the way through.