80 Years Young

Oh wait, the cake says 08!

My Pa turned 80 last weekend! I when I say 80 years young, I really mean it...he still plays tennis regularly with his 'Old Geezer' group (don't let the name fool you, they could beat most of us!).
To celebrate this huge milestone, my Nana planned a party at Trader Vic's restaurant in Emeryville. Our family has a long tradition with celebrations at Trader Vic's, from birthdays to anniversaries to bachelor parties. Back in its heyday, my grandparents were regulars at the restaurant, and the staff knew them well. It was one of those places that required a coat and tie(gasp!), and if a man showed up without one, he had to borrow the restaurant's coat for the evening. Those were the days...I can't think of one restaurant that requires coat and tie now. My uncle remembers celebrating events at Trader Vic's since 1972, in fact, he told me that once he, his ex-wife, and my parents went for dinner in a private room and brought Trivial Pursuit, thus spending hours playing the game and drinking mai-tais in the restaurant. I remember a few trips to the restaurant as a child, and feeling very fortuitous to be able to go...as I remember just as many occasions that my parents went without me and my brothers. So needless to say, our family has quite a history with Trader Vic's, and it was the perfect place to celebrate Pa's big day.
Almost the whole entire family made it out: grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, and parents. We were only missing three: my cousin Jim (he had to work), my Aunt Kim (she had to work too), and my brother Jason (in Bolivia).
We spent the evening in a private room looking over the bay, with mai-tais in hand. Trader Vic's is a Polynesian-themed restaurant, and they specialize in mai-tais, pupu platters, and other Polynesian fare. Of course, we snacked on pupus: BBQ spare ribs, crab rangoon, crispy prawns, and some yummy cheese things I can't remember the name of. After the pupus and mai-tais, I was almost full, but still made room for my green goddess salad and lamb curry.

Lamb Curry, look at all the fun toppings to mix in!

Dessert was off the hook...snowball icecreams (chocolate sauce, ice cream & coconut), sesame cookies, fortune cookies, and of course a chocolate cake for Pa! We all had 2 desserts infront of us, with big trays of cookies in the middle of the table.

Hank & Max chow down on dessert

It is always so much fun to see the whole family, especially so close to the holidays. Happy Birthday Pa!

Nana & Pa

Mom & Max

My Pa with almost all his grandsons (minus 2)

Julianna...gold medal skier...good luck this year!Not another photo! Please don't take my picture...