our thought at the end of the eve was gratitude for friends. we ate and were merry.
sprinkler fun and dress up clothes. fresh salads and berry crisps. 6 kinds of meat and cold beer. in all the ways jerry and i are drastically different (think darma and greg…all the time), we met in the middle on this one. i found him in the kitchen sorting toothpicks by color. his reply to my inquiry is that he was thinking of color-coding the meat after it was done…i nearly leapt with enthusiasm at the prospect of making a sign. good times.
the fry daddy received sweet and russet potatoes…and there was a failed attempt at unbattered zuchinni and squash.
we watched the kids and called everyone to the front yard for the annual tie dye chaos. funny how many adults “didn’t hear us call.” what? you don’t want to be in the yard with 17 kids holding squeeze bottles of permanent fabric dye? how could you miss that invitation?
the night grew dark and there was an impressive display of fireworks…only one window broken.
we’re still cleaning up (not because the mess was that big…but because we are slow) and we will wear our new colors of joy to remind us of another year of free living.
prairie daze 
I admit – I missed the call to tie dye. But my kids did too (at first). It was so fun and delicious!!
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So, um, if I came up there, will you do it all over, cuz it would be SO worth the trip.
And you know what? Dharma and Greg pretty much sums up my marriage too :-)
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that looked like so much fun with the tye dying and all! My friends used to always say I was Dharma but more than anything my parents were like hers!
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can’t wait to see your shirts.
that is a great idea for our block party.
i think we’ll steal that idea for next year.
i love color coding the meat.
funny.
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re:Dharma & Greg comment: It is so comforting to hear of other marriages in which the spouses are so different, yet so happy (I think we qualify… most of the time!)
And what a GREAT celebration!
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Your neighborhood looks adorable. I want it. Ours is very Stepford. And I love the color coded meat idea!! Was the window broken by an actual piece of munitions? Awesome!
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Hey, if I had heard your call, I would have been there! :-)
Our July 4 was a quiet affair — a threesome with Lee. She was at our door every couple of hours starting at about 6:30 a.m. asking what our plans for the day were. After her fourth visit we finally caught on that she probably just wanted to join us for whatever we had planned. So, around 5:30 p.m. we welcomed Lee to our deck, grilled some chicken, had some freshly made Guacamole and super fresh corn tortillas… A blessed event. But shoot — we missed being with you.
Much love,
Dad
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