85th Party on the Patio

Dick, 85 years young

Tomorrow will be my father-in-law's 85th birthday, so we wanted to have an event to honor him and spend some special time with him.  We decided to have the family over for a very traditional summer picnic, and do all the expected picnic-y things and eat all the traditional picnic-y foods.

As usual, Dick, the birthday boy, was busy reminiscing about things that had happened in his younger days.  He enjoys telling his stories to anyone who will listen.  When we asked him what he would do with his next 30 years, he paused, chuckled, and went on to the next story.

There were thirteen relatives attending his picnic party, spanning four generations.

The weather was perfect, with temperatures in the most comfortable range for an outdoor gathering like this one.  Amazingly, the bugs stayed away today.  And, there was absolutely no threat of wind or rain.

It was just perfect.

We had yard games going.  There was Corn Hole, or beanbag toss, as I prefer to call it.   Several of us also played our new Ladder Ball game.

There was even a bit of grocery shopping.  This little guy was "buying" all the beanbags from the beanbag game.

Liam is taking care business.

Now let's get down to the food.  I wanted to offer all the goodies you'd expect at a true picnic, so I started with eight pounds of bar-b-q spareribs.  Then I made a five pound batch of potato and egg salad, and another side salad mixture of cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes and olives in a zesty sauce. 

 There were dinner rolls that I pared with some homemade Texas Longhorn-type cinnamon butter, and watermelon slices.  Plenty of soda and two types of punch were on the beverage table.

Then, for dessert we had a choice between caramel apple bars and chocolate cake with cherries, ice cream and whipped cream.  Let's be honest, we all ate both.  

We darn nearly starved.

Happy Birthday Dick.  We hope you enjoyed your 85th birthday and have many pleasant days and years ahead.  We love you.