Last year while my parents were in town we hosted a BBQ for them and the friends that we'd made thus far in England. After lots of inquiries from our friends wondering when they can partake in Jon's famous BBQ ribs again, Jon decided we were going to have a 4th of July and Jon's BBQ party all rolled into one. So, last Saturday, the 7th, we had about 40 people over to our tiny house and had a major BBQ, a keg of beer, and fireworks. We grossly underestimated the amount of food and beer people would eat running out of almost everything. We served BBQ baked beans, American style coleslaw, hot dogs, polish sausages, ribs, burgers, pulled chicken, peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. The only thing we had left was some beans! I was told that I was a very good cook, too! Woot!
Everyone, including the kids, got on well, and the fireworks display was AMAZING! Even though we had a bit of rain, typical English summer, we all had a lot of fun.
Oh, did I mention it was 'fancy dress'? Fancy dress here is wearing a costume, and the Brits LOVE doing fancy dress, so we thought it would be fun to have folks come as their favorite American. I was Wonderwoman, Jon was 40 year old virgin, Joe was Abe Lincoln, and Jocelyn was Barbie. We also had another Abe Lincoln, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Madonna, Elvis, Slash (although we found out later he is British), Indiana Jones, Minnie Mouse, the Griswolds, Kojak, a Cowboy, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Batman, a few pirates, Darth Vader and a Storm trooper, and who can forget...Rambo!
We even did a quiz with lots of American questions. We awarded the winners with packages of Kraft Mac and Cheese and the losers with American Ramen noodles.
Jon says he had a great time, and that was counted most to me. Others have told me how much fun it was, too, and so that's just the icing on the cake. So, hopefully, turning 40 won't be so bad.
