Post 4th of July Cookout

In case you haven't noticed the theme, I like the 4th of July quite a lot :)

As my first full summer in my house, I've had time to do a little additional yard work and added to the backyard with some flowers, patio furniture, and a grill. I decided to combine those with my favorite holiday and have a 4th of July themed cookout. Only problem was, I did not plan to be in town the weekend of the 4th (see previous post). So instead, I decided to extend the holiday a bit and had the cookout this past weekend.

This was also a great excuse for some holiday decorations around the house:





The backyard got some patriotic flare as well; you may recognize some of the decorations as duplicates from the office decorations.

Amateur griller and sous chef
No burned hands here!

After a weeks worth of rain, it thankfully held off so we could use the backyard and enjoy some great temperatures. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were out in force and I'm sure a number of us came away with our share of bites.

Sarah explores the backyard and finds some pears. Ornamental or edible - the jury's still out.

The darkness and bugs finally forced us back inside for some dessert - a repeat of the flag fruit pizza. I'm sorry to tell my fellow Employees that this one was better than last week's. Just like at work, it was gone fast.

My sister had requested a reading of one of our favorite American "history" books - John, Paul, George, and Ben. History in quotes because I don't think you could categorize it as non-fiction. Even though she couldn't make the cookout, I followed through with the reading, which was met with a favorable response (aka. lots of laughter). If you haven't heard of or read this book, and especially if you enjoy American history, I highly recommend this humorous view of some of our founding fathers.

See, I'm laughing just reading it!