4th of July

On Monday, (the 4th of July), Ian, Shelle, Josh, Shelle's parent's, (Cecile & Bob), and Shelle's youngest sister, (Aimee) came over to our house for a B-B-Q.  Shelle fixed tri-tips on our grill, Dave fixed jumbo grilled shrimp, I fixed potato salad, baked beans, green salad, vegetable tray, several different kinds of dips, several trays of crackers, pita chips, and chips, corn on the cob, choc chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, lemoncello cheesecake, and Cecile fixed a patriotic trifle, (raspberry, blueberry, strawberries, ladyfinger, vanilla creme filling - Yummy).  We had lemonade, sun tea, sodas, and a few beers for those that wanted to indulge. Shelle made the most fantastic Basil lemonade. We had so much food and drink it was unbelievable!!  We ate, drank and laughed all evening and then played cards until the sun went down. 

Then Dave and I brought out a large basket of sparklers.  Some of them were almost 2 1/2 feet long.  Ian's eyes were the size of quarters when he saw the basket of sparklers.  He was so excited lighting and waving them around.  It almost was like watching an Indian Fire Dance.  After he used up all the long sparklers and a couple boxes of the small sparklers, we settled down in chairs on the deck to watch a spectacular show of fireworks across the valley.  We had a free show that was a combination of many shows - it was great.  The best part about being on a slight elevation over the city is the view, and this proved to be a night of great views.