Dinner Conversation

I might have briefly mentioned in passing that last Friday, our oldest boy Alex turned 18. In this country 18 means that you are not only able to vote, but you are legally eligible to walk into a pub and order yourself a pint of lager or any other alcoholic beverage of choice, maybe even three if its happy hour and like most 30 something 18 year olds, you need to get your maximum haul in before the clock strikes the end of cheaper drinks. I personally think the Brits have it right: If you are old enough to go fight in a war, vote for a government that is going to send you to war, or get married without your parent's consent, you should be able to consume alcohol legally. So score one for the Brits, they've got that right at least.

As I've also mentioned a multitude of times on this site (and as those of you who know Alex are aware), he is not your typical 18 year old lad. Plainly speaking, he wasn't your average teenager at all and for that, his dad and are very grateful. Alex chose to celebrate his 18th with us and his Aunt and Uncle in Nottingham, where he spent the day spending his birthday money. (He will be going out with his mates this weekend when they've all been paid) Later that evening, Andy's daughter Natasha came down on the train to join us and off we went to Pizza Express. Like a responsible and outgoing older sister, Tasha was well intent on getting her brother buzzed up and proceeded to order copious amounts of a drink that involved Amaretto and Coke. I tried this strange concoction myself and was amused to find it tasted like Dr. Pepper; it was hard to keep Connor from swiping a glass after he'd had a taste and Alex sure liked it; Tasha was delighted that she had introduced a drink to most of the adults that we hadn't had before, and although she and Alex were doing a bit more drinking than the rest of us, they weren't getting obnoxiously drunk (makes a parent admit that this obviously isn't their first time) and it was great to see them enjoying themselves. It was honestly just so good to be out having a good time as a family again. That hasn't happened in a very long time.

I’m not sure how the topic came about but Tasha mentioned the size of her bum and said she could thank the Allenby’s for bestowing this gift upon her. We had to question this as none of the Allenby’s we know are saddled with a big butt. We were informed that cousin Tracy has a big ass. To which I replied, ‘Well yes, but cousin Tracy is also very big, not just her ass so you can’t use her as an example’ Tasha then suggested her dad. Alison was laughing, while I was chuckling at this observation. Andy has a curved spine, however his bum is far from big; it’s actually quite compact. Tasha may be his daughter, and daughters don’t want to hear this, but I’m sorry, it had to be said: ‘Your dad has a great ass, so sorry, you can’t blame him; you can thank him for your nose, but not your bum’, because let it be said, my man has a great ass.

Here are a few fun photos we managed to snap to celebrate our boy becoming a *cough* young man:

The Young'uns:
(I cannot believe how much they've grown, these seven years have gone by so quickly)

The Old Folk:  

Our Family (probably the first picture of all of us, ever)

 Connor & his Uncle Scott: 

Andy, Tasha and Alex 

Andy and his wife & his sister