Olson Extravaganza... oh and a Surprise 30th Brithday Party

Yep, I was totally bamboozled. I arrived at Mom and Dad's around 10am to Happy 30th Birthday Jane decorations all over the back porch. I ran a couple of last minute errands for the party and started thinking too much. By the time I got back to the house I was completely overwhelmed with the thought of people making the trip for a happy birthday Jane party. It was a very warm happy, fuzzy, overwhelming, but glad Mom helped level me out before the company started coming in the afternoon.

Now that I think about it, it kind of cracks me up that I helped the masterminds behind the party plan it. Mom wanting help with the prizes, talking menu with Mom and Dad, and planning the games with Tom. Yep, they totally got me!

Here's a small collection of photos from the fun night. I tried to get as many people in the photos as I could. I have too many shots to show them all.

Here's Tom and I playing the frisbee golf course with three of the Muno's, Steph, Dan and Zach. Glad I twisted Steph's arm into playing the round with us... even happier she didn't decapitate anyone. ;-) Special thanks to Tom for rescuing my frisbee from behind the raspberry bushes. Keeping my fingers crossed you didn't get poison ivy.
Up next is the bags. Somehow the horseshoes didn't get a photo op, but it did get played. We've got Coker, Jim and Vince playing it up on the bags set Dad constructed and Grandpa painted. I just wish Grandpa hadn't put so many glossy coats of clear paint on it because I had at least 4 bags slide-hop right over the hole. That's my excuse for not doing well, and I'm going to stick with it.
Here's a nice shot of a relaxing game of croquet. We didn't have quite the cut-throat competition this year. But I do believe all had fun. Below is Mikelle, Laura, and Sarah.
Moving on to the ever exciting ladder golf game. I love this set Tom made. It's so much better than the store-bought one I really need to pitch/drop off at the Salvation Army. Anyway, here's Taylor and John taking their turn with the ladder golf. (So glad I brought over a Cubs hat for John, those Cardinal shoes and shirt needed to be evened out a bit.)
Those who just wanted to take in the atmosphere of the festivities, could be seen from the "lookout tower" on the deck. Here's Grandpa and Aunt Kathy watching over the croquet course.
After all the game playing, we all needed to replenish our energy, so Chef Daddler worked on cooking up a meal to serve us all. With a baseball chef cap and two grills going... I dare say that Dad was livin' it up.
Here's the tail end of the chow line. It was fun for me to ring the big cow bell to let everyone know that dinner was served. Gotta love the cheesey posed photo! I still giggle at this one.
Here's the setup of the deck with the kids making themselves at home. The cleanup crew (Sparky and Lizzie) hadn't been unleashed yet. We lucked out with the weather. It was absolutely beautiful, making it so easy for us all to enjoy the time outside.
The fire hazard was brought out after dinner. Dad, Jed, and Aunt Joyce tag teamed to get all 30 candles lit in a timely fashion. Sadly, I was unable to blow out all candles at once. But then again, when you have a cookie cake from Jim... it makes it pretty easy to overlook the inability to get all the candles in one breath.
Here's the beginning of the gift opening, as Uncle Gary tries to dart out of the photo. :) Apparently, Mom encouraged bringing fun small gifts in the quantity of 30. People definitely put their thinking caps on for this one.

Below was me looking at the Q-tip sculpture my cousin John made for me. He used 30 Q-tips to spell out my name... pretty cool. Sarah and Jed gave me 30 pistachios, and the kicker... each was was numbered! One gift arrived in a cooler, the Muno's gave me 30 of my favorite Eggo waffles... classic!
Let's see, below we have Old MacDonald's farm, courtesy of the Iadiapaolo's. I was unaware the the farm had a hermit crab, rubber chicken, dragon, gigantic bunny rabbits and an elephant. Let's see, Sparky and Jinkies also got hooked up pretty good thanks to the Angell's and Jenny/Chris. Between the two gifts, I've got kitty poo bags, cat & dog treats, and cat & dog toys. I should be able to bust those out tomorrow... they're both sleeping this Sunday away.
Laura hooked me us with a "few" rolls of toilet paper, which she creatively made into a gigantic caterpillar. I hear that I may have a hard time getting them apart. It was definitely the longest and most sturdy chain of TP I've ever seen. Tom hooked me up with 30 Dawson cards. I guess I found out what he's been doing with his summer, surfing ebay. ;-) I can't wait to get the cards arranged to hang up the 2nd bedroom... they are too cool not to display!
There were several other gifts, like Grandpa's 30 1 dollar bills, Dad's 30 scratch of lotto tickets (I got $13 and a free ticket!), and Mom's 30 swatches of fabric. I'm blanking on the other fun creative gifts at the moment. Between the super fun yet long day and getting up there in age, I just can't remember all the goofy gifts. I did love the card from Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy that read "It's easy turning 30 years old, The hard part is staying 30." Quality.

After the gifts and finishing up the games, we had nice little prize ceremony for all who participated. Zach, Tom, Dan, and Jim had a toss-off in the bag game for the Grand Prize, which Tom walked away with. Oh, I should mention that Aunt Cheryl won the booby prize. Love it.

The evening capped off with a bunch of fireworks and quite a few unwanted guests. Thank goodness they weren't all as large as the huge rhinoceros beetle. The mosquitoes were the only pest of the evening, so I'll take it! Definitely a day I won't soon forget.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come . If only Apple had released their new iphone with a teleportation device, then Aunt Chris and Uncle Ken, Matt, and Emily could have made it. I love getting the family and friends together. Sometimes I think I might as well just say family and family. It was awesome, also, I may have set a record for myself, most hugs in one day. It was great!