My parents invited us over for one of their fabulous cookouts this evening, and as usual it was… well… fabulous. My dad smoked some ribs and chicken, and Mom clearly spent the entire day in the kitchen. Deviled eggs, potato salad, homemade bbq sauce, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, homemade ice cream, caramel nut bars, and who knows what else! All we provided was a cake and our appetites. (That's what my mom always says when I ask her if I can bring anything: "Just your appetites!" she says.)
Mike brought over a new lawn game… something about monkeys and balls. I never did figure it out.
Maybe it was monkey bars and balls? Oh, I don't know. But Sophie and her friend Jenny had fun with it.
Here's Major Pain. He's Friday's brother, and such a sweetheart…
Sabrina spent the better part of the night spoiling him…
Sophie let me take her picture while Jenny was hiding for a game of Hide-and-Go-Seek (plus it gave her an excuse to open her eyes while she was counting)…
Mom always has the best bowls and pitchers and fresh garden flowers!
(I don't need pretty pitchers bc my kids just drink out of the kitchen faucet and Mike drinks straight from the milk jug, which annoys the frapp out of me, but he doesn't really mind.)
This is the only picture Mom would let me take of her; she's coming through the door from the deck with a plateful of ribs…
The peonies from my parents' back yard are so beautiful…
Here's Bean on the deck outside…I'm going to miss her so badly when she leaves for Germany in a couple of days…
My mom bought these really cool food tents for outside. I'd never heard of them before, and I loved them!
Mike thought they made great mosquito-net hats, which probably annoyed the frapp out of my mother.
There's not a whole lot that annoys my dad. He usually keeps his thoughts to himself.
The weather was beautiful, Mike left the bored games at home, and the food was absolutely delicious. The whole evening was just…well, fabulous.