Big Brother's Family Celebration

One day late (the funeral was on the 9th, and we were all absolutely exhausted that evening.. I think Son was sleeping by 6 p.m.!), we celebrated with our family. The requested cake was a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Since I had never made one before, I used Emmeril Lagasse's recipe (here) -- except that used the light rum I had on hand for baking.

Turns out, Son loved the pineapple but refused to touch the cherries (my son?!), but I think I would still make it with them in the future as they add such a nice pop of color to the top (bottom?) of the cake:

Dinner was hot dogs, baked beans (I think I'm the only one who ate any -- but that's ok, 'cause it meant we had lots left over... though they only lasted a day ;), and sweet potato chips (SO good, but again I think I ate more of them than anyone... and Son wasn't a fan... yet).

We invited Husband's family over for dinner kind of last-minute (I resolve to plan better next year!), and happily many of them were able to join us. After dinner we got right to the cake (because honestly, you just have to get that over with to get to the presents! ;):

 

It was delicious! Husband polished off the remaining piece, and I couldn't keep myself from eating the bits that Son left on his plate (ok, and maybe I scraped the crumbs off the serving plate and stuffed my face in the kitchen while "cleaning up").

Many wonderful presents were given and shared... I think all the boys had fun trying out the newest remote control car! And I was quite impressed with Son's ability to share when the big guys took turns. He really is growing up...