Aunt Billie's and Cousin Herschel's Birthday Party

Yes, the birthday party/mini-reunion was mainly to celebrate Aunt Billie reaching the milestone of her 90th birthday.  (We wouldn't have had such ceremony for Herschel's 29th birthday.)  But since so many people from the Slosberg and Ellis families were together, it seemed like a great idea to add to the celebration.
Aunt Billie has six grandchildren, five grandsons and one granddaughter.  Five of the grandchildren were able to travel from California or Nevada to celebrate their grandmother's birthday, which is actually in September.  (My cousin Ricky and his wife Nancy figured more people would be able to come in August before the school year started than if they waited until September.)
From left to right is Gabriel Slosberg, Alex Marcus, Herschel Slosberg, Billie Slosberg, Andrea Slosberg Proulx and Aaron Slosberg.

In this photo from left to right are Nancy (daughter-in-law), Ricky (oldest son), Billie, Jeff (youngest son) and his wife Monika Slosberg.  Sadly, Phylliss Marcus, Aunt Billie's only daughter, had passed away in 2003 from cancer.

 

After Aunt Billie had already cut the birthday cake, Nancy brought a birthday cookie to her son, my second cousin, Herschel, who was celebrating his 29th birthday this week.  (Too bad I had no room left for the cookie.  I'd already eaten so much at the brunch plus had a slice of birthday cake that I couldn't fit any more food in.)

Nancy's brother and sister still live in the Chicago area, so she was glad to catch up with Ferne and Joel and their families.

And, of course, the "arm stretch" shot of Russ and me.  A trip wouldn't be complete without one of these photos.

Even with the crummy weather getting here, I'm really glad we made the trip out here.

Flight to the Chicago Area

My Great-Aunt Esther "Billie" Slosberg was celebrating her 90th birthday this weekend with a mini-reunion in the Buffalo Grove, Illinois area, which is a suburb of Chicago.  (Aunt Billie was my Grandmother Rose Slosberg Stoller's sister-in-law.  Billie was married to Harold Slosberg, who had passed away shortly before my birth.)
With Russ flying us in N75078, it should have been a 5 hour flight, including two stops for bathroom breaks.  Russ could normally make this a non-stop flight, but for safety will include one stop to top off the gas tanks.  (It would be very bad to run out of gas while flying over Lake Michigan.)  But for my comfort he'd planned two rest stops/re-fuelings.
Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas.  If we'd just been out for a pleasure flight, we would've cut the flight very short and headed back home.  But because I wanted to see my my uncle and his family, plus Aunt Billie and my other cousins, we pressed on with the flight.
Due to the headwinds and rapid development of thunderstorms, it took 8.5 hours and three rest stops for us to make this flight.  We also experienced some turbulence that left me very shaken up and Russ with a bump on his head.
I seriously hope the return flight is better.