First day of summer!

On sat we were outside weeding (again! Seriously I could turn into a crazy person and kill the weeds with roundup if I am not careful! Just kidding, I wouldn't go that far. Ok, just sort of kidding. I might.) Anyway, so weeding away and the neighbor, Justin, mentioned that they were going to Sarah's parents for a summer solstice party. I was immediately jealous! They were going to BBQ, hang out and celebrate summer and I was going to weed?! No. This had to change.

So, I went into quick planning mode. jen's kids have been MIA due to a recent run in with a little thing called hand foot and mouth . . . and Em had a prior non-summer solstice related commitment. Before it even began, my summer start party was off to a rocky beginning. After there were officially no guests, Steve and I decided to still have a BBQ and then roast (vegan, non-GMO) marshmallows with the boys over the backyard fire.

 It was probably better that we had no guests considering I hadn't showered in 2 (maybe 3) days and because the BBQ turned out terrible!! Evan spent the whole time yelling (ok maybe he was SCREAMING and crying and did I mention stomping his feet), declaring that he was NEVER going to eat the sweet potato fries! Wesley decided a grass-fed, organic hamburger was delicious and so was a homemade spicy black bean burger leaving Steve and I both with a half eaten, mostly smashed main course. After the burgers were done, the grill ran out of propane and the sweet potato chips remained crunchy on the grill.  See, I told you. Awesome.

After "dinner" the kids were yelling and demanding all sorts of things from us, the fire kept going out, the potatoes were cooking/burning in the oven, but we were both determined to see this thing through. We were going to roast marshmallows if it was the last thing we did!  Steve tackled the fire and I tackled the boys. After some good tag team work, the fire was blazing and the kids were ready with their roasting sticks. 

At the end of what was truly the longest day of the year, it was a good night, but I want to know (once again) where was my movie-esque night that I envisioned? You know, the one where lightening bugs quietly floated in the back yard while we all laughed and ate around a pre-made perfect fire that didn't smoke and probably didn't even stink up your clothes.  

Maybe the first day of fall will be easier to tackle- easier for no other reason than the fact that my sisters might be around and with a little bit of advanced planning and cousin power we can keep the littles under control. Strength in numbers.