SWIMMIN' & BBQ'N ON THE 4TH

Last week I had a 4th of July party. Despite leaving four cameras outside (two Polaroid cameras - my SLR 680 SE and my 195), a Nikon D40, and my waterproof Sony U60, I was so busy being a hostess that I barely got any photos of the day. And the only photo of myself turned out blurry. As much as I love taking photos, the day was about sun, bbq, and socializing, so picture taking be damned. I spent what little free time I had in the pool, so the majority of shots came from the Sony. During the day we noshed on fresh fruit (watermelon, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, apricots), had a bbq dinner of shrimp skewers (a big hit!) made by Cathy Thaden, burgers and hot dogs (Kosher beef and turkey) cooked up by the grillmaster Serena), and for dessert I served ice cream sandwiches, bars, and drumsticks to help beat the heat plus I honored my Mom's memory by making her famous confetti jello for the very first time. I'm saving the photos and recipe for the confetti jello for a future post.

My appetizer and condiment layout


Ice Teas - The labels are askew because I put them on while the pitchers were attached to the brewer and couldn't really see what I was doing. I had a TON of soft drinks and waters too, but no photo.

Polaroid Time Zero shot - my single TZ shot of the day. I only have about 150 shots left of the stuff and that's it, so I gotta conserve! Blue and water always look great in TZ so I thought this was a good subject for it. These American flag inner tubes were only $2.99 at Leslie's pool supply!

John was the first to figure out that the best place to hang out was in the pool.

Dave and John

Paul, Serena, Gale, and John. They had a pretty good game of catch football going on for quite some time. John managed to lob me in the face when I thought I had made it clear that I was taking a time out to have a conversation with someone standing on the deck. Luckily, the football is basically like a big, squishy sponge so I was just fine.

The rest of these shots were taken with my ancient Sony Cybershot U DSC-U60 - a waterproof 2 megapixel digital camera with a fixed 33mm lens that has a fast 2.8 aperture.

Lucy The Boxador, Caroline, Baby Diana, and Paulus

Me and Serena - of course the only blurry shot I took all day was of myself! DOH!!!

Sonya

Danny and Rhea

Masha

Lawrence

Rhea

Baby Diana

Danny and Rhea's son Sebastian

Paulus, Dad, Lucy

Paulus, Dad, Lucy

Lucy being brave and coming up to the edge of the pool.

Lucy is pretty sensitive to new people and especially to men in general. I didn't know how she was going to handle having the backyard invaded with people. I expected a lot of barking and freaking out but she did really well. The only time she barked was when people came up the driveway, but once they were in the backyard she didn't make a peep. I could tell she was a little nervous, but she was a trouper and always wanted to be outside with me and the guests despite the major heat that had her panting for most of the day. I guess I was preparing for the worst and she pleasantly surprised me with dealing with a totally new situation and stimuli. And she didn't even beg for food or pester people who were eating. Lucy gets an A+ for her first 4th of July in the Marcus home!

Paul and Masha

Paul

Sebastian