It's your birthday

So we celebrated my mom's cousin's birthday over the weekend. We're one of those annoying families in which everyone is referred to as "a cousin" when in all reality, their branches on the family tree sway several feet above ours. But you do what works, and for us, referring to a third cousin twice removed and folded is too great a mouthful. Now that you know that, my mother's 'cousin' really IS her cousin and we call her our 'aunt'. It's tricky isn't it? Because you see, she ISN'T really my aunt and I just told you that we refer to everyone as cousins. She, we refer to as an aunt, because she is older than my brother and I and obviously fits the profile of an aunt.
Whatever...... hush. It works.

So we went to THIS BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR A WOMAN IN OUR FAMILY. And there was cake and family and trees. The end.

Oh, but there was something fun in the trees. Something orange and as my "cousin" Eric pointed out, looks magnificently like a ball. A ball that was stuck in the highest branches of this tree and, "wouldn't it be cool if we could get that ball down?!" So my "cousin's" start chucking a football skyward in effort to knock the orange ball from it's aerial perch.

This goes on for a while.................

Until suddenly, whoops. Orange ball does not come down. However, it now has a partner in tree sitting because suspended up there with orange ball is now our football. Seems someone sucks at throwing 10 feet above their head.

So my "cousin" Eric heads up the tree to retrieve the football. Because that football is worth something, ya know? Not unlike the coveted orange ball.

Half way up the tree it apparently dawned on him that he was no longer a young stud suited for shimming up the branches of an old tree.

Being the bold adventurist that I am, I volunteered for the task. Being the sly mother prepared to ridicule me for my efforts, my mom grabbed the camera and documented my treacherous climb.


Look, I'm starting to go upwards.


This was a rather difficult part of the journey. You can't really tell how high I am here, but I promise you, I'm high. It was at this point that my Granny started yelling at me to come back because it isn't worth it. Oh, but it was. So I continue.


Almost fell here. Yup, it would have hurt.


But I didn't fall, I used my amazing balance to keep me aloft. That my friends is the roof to the pavilion. I TOLD you I was really high.


.....and made it. And here is where I jumped up and down for a good 15 minutes to shake the football loose from it's bed atop the branched. Here is also where it was revealed that the coveted orange ball....was a balloon. A BALLOON I SAY. Ugh.












You didn't know I was raising a baby model, did ya?