I Suck At Fourth Of July Cookouts

On Sunday, my friends (Cass and Ellen) had a cookout to celebrate the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, I suck at fourth of July cookouts.

Nevertheless, the cookout was a great excuse to just hang out with a bunch of friends... relax... laugh it up... etc. In addition to my friends (Marc, Kelley, Garv, Leeann, Andrea), Karen, our daughter (Briana) and I, Cass and Ellen's respective parents attended the cookout.

For me, it was the first time I got to hang out with Ellen's parents. They are very nice. Interestingly enough, they think that I am a great father. Boy do I have them fooled or what? Apparently, they thought I did a superb job of taking care of Briana while at the cookout.

I also got to hang out a little with Cass's parents as well. Cass's father brought steak, lamb, ribs... other beef products... to the cookout. Ever since my little "incident" on Black Friday from years past, I have purposely made sure that my pieces of meat are cut up into small pieces that are easy to swallow. (For anyone curious, it was a piece of steak that Cass's father had made that I had choked on during that fateful Black Friday.)

Needless to say, I still get a little ribbing from that incident. Sunday was no different. It was definitely nice to see Cass's parents again. Growing up, my friends and I used to see them all the time because we either hung out at Cass's or at Garv's. I believe Cass's mother even reminded us that it was our friends (Ron and Ben) broke one of their vases while playing around. (I think they may have also shattered some glass that was covering a table, but I could be mistaken about that.)

All in all, it was nice to see everyone. I think I had the most fun just hanging out in the backyard while a good number of guests went inside the house... only to watch the Jaws marathon on television. While Kelley rolled around the dog excrement-infested lawn, Garv, Cass, Andrea and I were just being silly.

The topic of discussion was mainly how I was going to be a pushover when it came to my loving daughter, Briana. Garv did his best impression of Briana pleading to go with her friends to a Lady GaGa concert. Cass thought I'd simply defer to Karen. Meanwhile, Andrea (probably from experience) said that Briana, in an effort to get her way, will start small and eventually work her way up to asking for bigger and better things. Sadly, none of them believed that I would say no to Briana. I'll prove them all wrong.

Anyway, as the night when on, we ended up inside watching the Boston Pops on television. Happy belated Fourth of July! Aside from the usual fireworks display in town, there were also random fireworks that were ignited by Cass and Ellen's neighbors. It was interesting.

Needless to say, it was a great relaxing day with friends. It was a nice way to celebrate our country's independence.