For what it’s worth, it made up for the lousy Independence Day.
Matt and Ginger held a BBQ on Saturday night with yummy eats, a game of croquet, and a few rounds of Bocce. (Not, as Maria was quick to point out, “Bocce Ball” which would be the equivalent of playing “soccer ball” instead of simply “soccer.” Point taken.) Mostly the guys (Matt, Joe, Dennis, and me) played Bocce.
Afterward, we played team croquet, where the full group of partiers (the aforementioned guys plus Ginger, Carol, Erin, Maria), partnered up into teams of two and went at it. This proved especially exciting. Happy Team Yellow, comprised of Maria and me, were poised for victory when Dennis hit an amazing shot that banked off an opponent’s ball, went through a couple wickets, and ultimately proved a game winner. Hopefully Maria hit him about the head all the way back to Portland for ruining our anticipated victory.
Jonah seemed to enjoy looking up at Matt and Ginger’s big oak tree, and for the most part the slight, cool breeze kept him nuzzled into whomever was holding him. Right now that seems to be as good as indication as any that he had a good time. Erin and I had a good time too.
Thanks to Matt and Ginger for hosting the fun BBQ and get-together.
On Sunday we headed up I-5 to Robyn’s house in Tualatin to meet with her family and friends at a celebratory BBQ/birthday party. We met lots of people, including a couple of 5 month old babies. Both were roughly double Jonah’s age and as such painted an interesting picture of what his development will be like in the next 10-12 weeks. For one thing, he’ll have bigger feet!
We were very excited to see Robyn’s place for the first time and are prepared to pronounce it pretty cool. Not only is her home situated in a pleasantly tranquil neighborhood, but on top of having a great location she has a huge, landscaped yard. We were very taken by this. The back yard alone has a large deck plus enough lawn area to play games or garden or whatever one would want to do. The party was held predominantly in the secluded backyard, though I should say the lower half of the back yard because there is an entire additional higher tier. It’s one thing to have a lot of yard space (which we have); it’s quite another to make good use of it (which we have not). Robyn’s place has both.
Jared BBQ’d some tastey chicken, we sat in the shade and watched some Bocce, we celebrated a couple of birthdays for people whose names presently escape me, ate birthday cake, chatted with various folks, enjoyed the other babies who were there, and generally just had a wonderful time.
Thanks to Robyn and Jared for the delightful party and relaxing Sunday afternoon.