If you wanted to sleep, you could:

If you wanted to read, you could:

If you wanted to play, you could:

If you wanted to float, you could:

Then, on the evening festivities. Andrew’s parents offered us their house and we all agreed that this needed to happen:

Having our own fireworks display! Alright! I haven’t set off fireworks in years and it was just as fun now as it was back then.

We had our team of pyrotechs who wielded the power of the lighter or blow torch:

They set off quite a few displays that made us ooh and aah:

We even played with sparklers:

After setting off the finale and a visit from the cop (he had to respond to the neighbor’s call about us), we went and frolicked in the water again. (Can you tell that we are all water babies?)

And, of course, we enjoyed the warmth of a fire at the end of the night:

Happy 4th, everyone, I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did. And for more sparkly pictures, please click here.

The girls got all gussied up and went out to Sugo’s for some wine and dinner.

One of the girls had heard that the pizza was delicious and it was decided, pizza it is. While some did order the pizza, I ordered the chicken piccata special, which I ended up splitting my dinner with Monika (she had a pizza). I do have to say that the recommendation was correct, the pizza was delicious. The chicken piccata was good but I wasn’t raving that I would need to order this dish again. It was a pretty laid back atmosphere and I will be coming back for more.

After dinner, we all headed downtown to see the fireworks and that was pretty much a coordination nightmare. The game was letting out, traffic was hellacious, there were people everywhere. One car of girls gave up and headed to the bar in the county, but we trudged on. The boys ended up coming down but that was a bitch meeting up with them. I spent more time worrying here Bob was, I missed quite a bit of the display. We will not be doing that next year.

Since the fireworks ended before ten, the night was still young so we all fought the traffic back to the county where we found the other car of girls. There we drank, sang, drank, talked, sang and drank even more.

Good times, people, good times. And we still had two more days off! Hell yeah!

Here are the rest of the pictures.

One of the nice things about having a PGA professional for a friend is that when your wife and her friends want some golf lessons, you’re off the hook! Colin came out to the range and gave a beginner’s clinic for Jen, Katie, Sarah and Amanda on Saturday morning and I tagged along to hit a few myself. I was also the left-handed grip helper for Jen and Sarah, since they stand on the wrong side of the ball. Despite this, Jen’s natural form is a true sight to behold:

Each girl showed their own unique golfing style. And while some ended up with blisters (in fact, one might say that Katie’s entire golfing style is predicated on obtaining blisters), we all had a good time. The blisters and sunburns were well-earned, as was the celebratory Smoothie King afterwards.

Entree: Curried Chicken Salad. A light curried chicken salad that wasn’t overly sweet and a good choice for the summer.

Dessert: Chai Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting. A flavorful cupcake that was a bit dry. Kate steeped 6 teabags instead of 5 that may have decreased the amount of milk needed for the batter. The recipe for frosting can be cut in half because following the recipe would create way too much on 16 cupcakes. And the frosting was a bit runny so you may need to decrease the amount of liquids.

Congratulations, Brandon, you are now 29 years old. Well, technically, you’ve been 29 for over a month, but this was the day that we could all get tickets for. On a clear, surprisingly cool June evening, we all gathered in the Coca-Cola Patio (all you can eat and drink — try the brisket!) to watch the Cardinals put the hammer down upon Dontrelle Willis and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The game was great, the weather perfect and the company was top notch.

A fantastic evening for sure. And just think, next year you will be 30! Click here for all the pictures.

We brought the camera this time so we can show you the fabulous trays of food that was served. Kate requested the tent area for seating. You could either sit on the floor on top of couch cushions with pillows all around your or on some makeshift boxes covered in fabric.

The food presentation was delightful and whimsical:

There was even baklava for dessert but it was too awesome for a picture.

Happy birthday, can’t wait to see what you’re going to pick for next year!

If you would like to see more pictures, click here.

Entree: Pork Steaks. Delicious, St. Louis specialty.

Side Dish: Rosemary Grilled Potatoes and Rich and Charlie’s Salad. This is my go-to grilled potatoes recipe. I’ve made this in the past, it’s fabulous. The go-to salad, I love this salad.

Dessert: Riesling Syrup Cake. This cake did not impress me. It was dry and I was put off by the gritty texture. That’s really too bad because it was pretty.

Jen and I have been considering more sustainable food practices lately. Well, we’ve been recycling our fast food drink cups at least. Seriously though, when Jen said that a farmer’s coop was operating in Maryland Heights, I knew I’d have some tasty vegetables in our future. We went in on a basket with Katie and this was the result. While some of the stuff isn’t quite in season yet, the corn was hella tasty.

Looking forward to cooking more with fresh, local veggies in the future! If this sounds like fun to you, check out Community Helpings Coop.

Spend hours poolside, lounging around, eating fall-off-the-bone ribs, pasta salad, bacon-wrapped potatoes and other wonderfully tasty food:

Then run inside when an isolated storm rolls through. After waiting until the storm passes, have the weather cool off and start playing some backyard games:

You also set up a wiffleball game with these two teams:

(My team won, by the way)

Lastly, you spend the evening hours sitting fireside, laughing, drinking, eating, and talking:

You know it’s a success when someone passes out:

As always, a fabulous summer barbeque, Katie!

For more barbeque fun, click here.

Awesome.