4th of July Weekend Photo Diary: Part 1

Mr. Pihl's grandmother beat all of us in the unofficial patriotic spirit contest.

How was everyone's long weekend?  Ours was fan-tab-ulous.

I'll spare you the boring (ie: productive/exhausting/accomplished) details of the weekend where Mr. Pihl and I cleaned like banshees, and jump right into the fun parts.

Thursday night we met up with some of Mr. Pihl's old friends who were visiting for the long/holiday weekend.

We met at this place:

-which is a mandatory experience in our town.

Not kidding.  One time Mikhail Gorbechav came through town for a local chess event, and even HE went to the Ol' Stuga.  They have photos on the wall to prove it.

Anywhoodle, our three day weekend began there and progressed into all-out awesomeness.

We celebrated Independence Day out at an amazing piece of property owned (and landscaped) by Mr. Pihl's uncle.  Here are a few shots from the night.

My nephew eyeing my mother in law's water bottle.

The view from our dining area.

A shot of the property, to demonstrate its gorgeousness.

Another shot of the property, to demonstrate its gorgeousness.

Le cabin.

Yet another shot of the property, to further demonstrate its gorgeousness.

See previous photo caption

Homeboy not appreciating the itchy grass.

He's cute even when he's upset.  How does he do that?

So, there's that.

And these.

Pretty.

Still pretty.

So much deliciousness. 

I want to end this on a note about food (which is the best way to end anything, isn't it?).

Everything at the party was delicious, and we ended up bringing the spinach salad (pictured above) and gluten-free monster cookies (not pictured because I'm an airhead).  The spinach salad recipe is from my aunt and is one of my favorite salads EVER.  I took a dozen photos while making it, and I promise to post the recipe this week.

Probably.

Definitely, maybe.

Well, I intend to.  Does that count?

Part 2 documenting the uber fun night we had Saturday with friends, backyard kubb, a taco bar, and a kick butt spritzer recipe will be posted tomorrow.

Probably.

Definitely, maybe.