Staycation

Friday evening we arrived home from our week of being away.  We could not wait to pull in our driveway because while we were gone, our concrete patio was poured and our pool was finished. The four of us piled out of the motorhome and straight into our beautiful new backyard.  We could not be happier with the look of the concrete and the finish of the pool - it's all exactly how we wanted it. 

(Big thanks to my brother Leo, our friend Eric, and my bestie Shawna for taking care of our concrete each day while we were gone.  There is no way that Darrin could have relaxed on vacation without knowing people he trusted were back home watering our freshly poured concrete each day.)

For the past three years Darrin and I have discussed and dreamed about what our backyard could one day be.  To see it finally materialize was so exciting.  Yes, we still have to clean up from construction and put in landscaping now that all the hardscape is in, but that will all come soon enough.  For now, we didn't want to leave home.  So we invited several of our closest friends out to the house for a July 3rd BBQ and pool party. 

The menu:  BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches on homemade rolls, coleslaw, gazpacho salad, orzo salad, Sloughhouse corn, baked beans, fruit salad, spinach dip, BBQ Chicken and freshly made Sangria.  For dessert, homemade peach and pear cobblers, with homemade vanilla ice cream.  Everything turned out so delicious!

We hardly left the pool the entire day except to light our fireworks.  (No, the fireworks were not homemade!) 

 I think we had six kids (including our own) stay the night for a sleepover.  To recover, today we made pancakes, and then . . . . spent the day in the pool!  We were out of Sangria so we took to the Sweet Tea Vodka with Lemonade.  A perfect drink for a perfect day.

Even though we were home, this weekend felt like a vacation.  I spent the weekend with three out of four of my very best friends, and several times during the weekend I would look around, seeing my friends and family enjoying themselves and think - Oh yeah, this is what it's all about! 

We are truly blessed to live in a great country, where weekends like this one are possible. 

Happy Independence Day!