Happy Birthday, Joey K.!

Last night was a fun birthday party for Cousin Joey. The theme was St. Louis Cardinals, the beer was cold, and the company was lots of loved ones...what could be better? Tons of fun was had by all, with lots of laughs (is there ever anything different with this family?) and a few surprises (Dan nailing both Michelle and Ryan with a single water balloon, Steve arriving with friends - who we decided to like despite their misplaced loyalty to the Chicago Cubs, because they are lovely people, and to be honest, shouldn't we all just feel sorry for Cubs fans? Yes, I know they kicked our butts in extra innings last night, but it was a fluke.)

Zoe made the rounds and was held by most everyone, I think. Here are some images I made...please excuse some of the blown highlights in a few. Not thinking, I kept the D100 on shutter priority when it wasn't necessary. Bad photographer, bad! I blame it on the 2-3 (that's 2 to 3, not 23) Budweiser Selects consumed before picking up the camera. Thanks to M for being DD!

Here's the birthday boy, Joe, eating his birthday burger, which you can hardly see because of afore-mentioned blown-out highlights. Crikey. Note to self: you don't need to shoot at 1/60 sec. when you've got bright sunlight, dummy. Sheesh. Rookie mistake.

Anyway, happy birthday to Joey...we love having you as our cousin and we hope your birthday was fabulous!

And we hope your birthday burger tasted better than it looks in this image.

Here's Grandma Zlatic (also known as Grandma Frank). Methinks she's thinking of her infamous Goody Drawer, hence the lovely smile. Ya'all probably already know this, but I just discovered it within the last year so I'm tellin' the world...the Goody Drawer is more than just a drawer. It actually extends to the freezer portion of her refrigerator. At any given time you can get drumsticks and other delicious frozen treats from the Goody Freezer. Ahhhh, Grandma.


Cousin Michelle holds Zozo.

Jim, deep in thought. My guesses as to what he's thinking about:
1. Calculating just how much money he has left to shell out for his kids.
2. Wondering how much change he'll find under the trashcans at the carwash tonight.
3. What's in Grandma's Goody Drawer/Freezer.

A peek into the future: Danny at a frat party in college.

Mmmm. Candy.

Zoe and her favorite Great Aunt Margaret.