But first, a picture of the menu chalk board I made last weekend. Totally unrelated to the 4th of July. Rather impressively, I've stuck to it so far. Of course, there are only 3 meals in the line up that I had any part in cooking, but still...
After work/school, Mike and I got to work prepping the food. Olivia and Sophie the Giraffe supervised.
Mike grilled the chicken for the BBQ chicken pizza (my fave) and tomatoes to make his own sauce. The pizzas were delicious but the sauce was a total failure; but A for effort, hon.
I never have any picture of me and the kids, so I asked Mike to snap a few. I should have asked someone else, but hey, better than nothing!
Yep, that's drool all over my shoulder. This one is a drooling machine!
Ben saw me walking around with Liv and asked me to pick him up too. It takes skill and muscle to hoist up a 32 pounder while holding a not quite 4 month old.
A little later, the guests started to arrive. Nana's wrist is all healed from surgery, so she is enjoying being able to cuddle with Olivia now.
It wasn't long before Olivia got comfy and took one of her famous cat naps, right on Nana's shoulder.
The first pizza was ready (sausage), so everyone dug in. Ben was holding court at the table, as usual. And sitting right next to Denise, as usual.
Sue and Dan arrived and Olivia was awake, so they got some cuddles with her too.
Once dinner was done, we moved the party outside. In her jammies, hat, and blankie, Olivia was quite content out there. She LOVES to take it all in.
Mike started up the fire and Nana showed Ben how to roast marshmallows for smores.
Ben settled in to try out his handi-work. No chocolate on his smores. I don't get it either.
The smores-making brought back memories of Nana's days in Girl Scouts.
As usual, Ben was obsessed with Denise. He followed her around all night.
Not sure what caught their eye - a firework, perhaps; or an airplane? Also notice Ben's outfit change. He gave up his beloved tank tops because he told me he wanted to go change into an outfit just like Denise's. No joke. We went upstairs and he settled on a blue t-shirt like hers and these pants. Apparently that was close enough for him.
Once it was dark enough, we brought out the sparklers. I was a little apprehensive, but if you tell Ben the why of things, he is usually very safe. Tonight was no exception; he was very careful with the sparklers and had a great time.
A fun evening all around!
love that Ben wanted to dress like Denise. How cute is Livvie in that green chair with matching green dress?
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