I Scream for Ice Cream!

The ice cream truck that trolls through our neighborhood only plays Christmas music. What gives?
Now every time I hear "Oh Holy Night" I crave Creamsicles and Drumsticks.

BBQ #2 and a Little Q

We had our second barbecue of the season yesterday. Now that we actually have a backyard, we're trying to get as much use out of it as we can.

We had a PE staff BBQ, minus half of the PE staff and with the addition of my sis and The Q. It was a nice group. Coming up with a menu was a challenge. Our PE boys don't really do vegetables. Or anything too "creative." Yeah, they're weird. At any rate we stuck to the basics.
Ross started smoking the brisket at 8:30AM. The sis brought some filthy and delicious mac and cheese. I put together potato wedges and a couple of salads (for us girls) - our garden is exploding with greens and herbs (yay!). Then, my favorite part - dessert. This is the real reason I invite people over - so I have an excuse to make ice cream. This was my first attempt at ice cream sandwiches. They were good.



And this was my favorite guest.

BBQ

Last weekend we had a little shinanigan at our place. I invited a couple of friends over, then a couple more, and to make things interesting, a couple more. We know how to show our friends a good time, so naturally we treated them to burgers and dogs. We also had some sweet treats, ricotta and honey filled phyllo from the big sis, and I made some coconut sorbet and layered it with a little watermelon. *Photos courtesy of one Stacy West.






(Obviously we should be models.)

Don't you wish I'd invited you? For a small price, you might be able to find yourself on the next guest list. Have your people contact my people.

Birthdays for the Boys

Last weekend we celebrated my dad's 50+ birthday and my nephew's 1st birthday. It wasn't either of their birthdays, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
Actually, my poor dad happened to be rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon on his birthday. And the Q, well it's hard to compete with Christmas, so we're celebrating his half birthday instead.
The weekend was pretty fantastic. The weather cooperated...for once. A ton of family came, and the food was plentiful and terrific. Here are a few pictures that captured the par-tay.

#1: The Q lovin' his Uncle Rossome.
.

#2: Yes, we are all that mature.


#3: The bigger birthday boy looking studly in his new safety goggles.

(Nice socks, Dad.)

#4: A little Q to help erase that last image from your retinas.


#5: The little stud muffin with the birthday gift that immediately became his favorite - basketballs (atta boy!).


#6 and #7: The gift that immediately became everyone else' favorite.

Junior Park Ranger Q-Man, at your service.