Long Holiday Weekend Love

This is going to be a stupid statement, but I love long holiday weekends.  When I was growing up, we rarely celebrated the holidays, other than Christmas.  My Mom's favorite saying was "It's just another day."  She still has a tendancy to say this same thing today and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand-up.  I have always tried to make sure that I recognize special days, like birthdays and holidays for my family because I think it is important to have fun and enjoy each other, every chance we get.  Daily life can be mundane, and working every day is hard and tiresome....that means the weekends should be reserved for something special. 

We had our July 4th cookout and get together on Saturday this year and on Sunday, we had left-overs and enjoyed an outdoor movie after dark - we watched Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.  On Monday, Mike and I went to the movies to see The Last Airbender and had a late lunch at O'Charleys.  I loved the movie...I know the critics have basically trashed it but I enjoyed the story and the visual effects were beautiful...apparently, I'm not hard to please.  I guage a movie based upon it's entertainment factor and how joyful and relaxed I feel when it's over.  I don't worry about whether this was original or that was not possible...it's a movie...it's entertainment...it's not supposed to be realistic.  I can get realism every day of the week, thank you very much.  I don't need to have to think through every phrase for the underlying meaning...let me vegetate and just enjoy.  As a bonus, give me a little kung fu and action to go along with my movie and I'm good. 

You might remember that I planned to use the hay wagon as my serving table this year.  You can read about my idea here.  It worked out great and I'll definetly be using this idea again. 

The troopes were getting really hungry, so I had to snap pictures very quickly.  This is the best shot I got of the overall wagon surface. 

I used a small chest to start the food line with plates and utensils. 

Because of the heat, all cold items were set in an ice bath and this worked out great...the food stayed cold and I did not have to jump right up after everyone was served and rush the food back to the refrigerator.  I used bandanas for napkins and also to cover the food so that it was safe from flying insects.  A little yellow pitcher held extra BBQ sauce for the smoked ribs. 

One corner was dedicated to beverages...off to the left and not shown in the picture, is a Coca Cola cooler of sodas...I used mason jars for sweet tea.  I keep the jars in their original box for storage and after washing, I store them upside down in the box. 

Individual bags of chips were available for the kiddies. 

We played and worked hard to stay cool.

We enjoyed sparklers and fireworks.

I hope you had and opportunity to enjoy your weekend with family and friends.  I'm joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for her weekly Outdoor Wednesday party....I almost forgot that it was Wednesday!!  Thanks to Susan for hosting this fun get together each week...please stop by and visit with her and all the party participants. 

All The Best,

mill57@charter.net
http://www.theycallmejammi.blogspot.com/