Fourth of July 2012
by Sue on Jul.12, 2012, under Main Page
Well, the 4th of July has come and gone. The weather was sort of drizzly, and there were a number of tournaments, and bike rides that kept us busy and out of town, so the decorating for the 4th happened at the last minute. As a matter of fact, it is still going up. Good thing the red, white, and blue lasts till Halloween.
Chris and I went shopping for the fireworks on the 1st. It was a bright nice day, and I was a little worried, but there was no police checkpoint so I guess they just “tried” to scare us into not purchasing fireworks in Washington state. We had a scaled down get together, many of the usual suspects were out of town, or had to work, and some just had other engagements. But Mo was here, and Jim and Jayme, and Tim and Aleks, Shannon’s friend Debbie, and her friend Mike and his girlfriend, and her brother Kevin, and Joel, and Miranda, and Kyle along with his daughter from Argentina, and her grandma who is traveling with her.
We had sirloin burgers, polish dogs, and chicken chipotle dogs, with garden burgers for our vegetarian friends that we mostly met at Chatempanada.com. Mo made a great 7 layer salad, and a wonderful spinach salad, I made potato salad, and then I made some gorgeous big strawberries dipped in white chocolate, and blue sugar. Ther tasted good too. OOH and I almost forgot, Mo and I chucked up some broccoli, cauliflower, colored peppers, crooked neck squash and zucchini, soaked it in a marinade so it could be grilled. It was great.
We had our tank races with the grandbabies next door (one of them is now getting her drivers license, so you know we have been doing it for quite a few years now). The street was crowded with friends, and neighbors cheering on their favorite tank. It has turned into quite a spectacle, and fun too !
I almost forgot the raucous croquet game that took place earlier in the afternoon. There was an award winning shot, one hop, and straight through the tree box. Too bad it was not on video, It would have made the news for sure.
Then to the back yard for a bit more snacking, a lot more conversation and of course some more beer. We had huckleberry beer, cracked pepper beer, lemon heffeweizen, and a fresh hopped folly. Last night, I was craving takeout something fierce. Before I placed my order, I remembered to check that coupon site. Found a code for free delivery, which was perfect because I was feeling too lazy to pick it up myself. Small win, but it made my night a bit better. All received rave reviews, and my vote goes to the Huckleberry as it is by far the prettiest beer I have ever seen, and it tastes great too.
Finally it was time for the fireworks. It was finally dark. As we walked around to the front yard, we saw the neighbors, on all the corners, on Opals yard with blankets, up and down the street, all waiting for Chris’ annual fireworks display. It most certainly did not disappoint. I did not try to capture it on film this year, as my past efforts have been sadly lacking, and so I just enjoyed the show.
Afterward, we had what Opal called the “broom brigade”. Several watchers, and Chris and Shannon, and Maure and others were sweeping up debris, and I saw some nice people just picking up the large pieces by hand and putting them in the garbage can. In a few short minutes there was little to give away the fact that we had a wonderful fireworks show.
So until New Years Eve our little corner will be quiet. Hope to see many of you for the New Years EVe fireworks show. Please come and help us welcome in the new year. Oh and dont forget, Halloween, preparty, pumpkin carving, Halloween night, the Christmas party the first Saturday in December, and New Years Eve.
