Got a call Saturday morning from my Mom.  She and Margy though it would be nice to go to the 5:00 Mass at St. Thomas, swing by Milio's and grab a bag full of sandwiches, come eat them at my house, then walk around the lake after dinner.  We all miss after dinner walks; in the old house, which was right on the lake, we walked after dinner almost every night.

I said that sounded good but what about the day, itself?

I told them that Josie was interested in going to Excelsior and hitting the candy store.

So that's what we did; two cars full of ladies and kids spent the afternoon wandering in and out of antique stores, candy stores, ice cream parlors and an Irish pub before ending up wading on the beach, watching boats of every size, shape and description.

It was a lovely way to spend a day.

In the middle of all that, I got a call from Jay, wondering what the plan was.  I told him.  Instead of grabbing sandwiches, Jay offered to cook burgers for us all, since it was going to be a relatively small crowd.

I said "Yes!  Let's do that."  Then I laughed and laughed and laughed.

I knew what was going to happen and I think Jay did, too.

Within the hour, what had started out as Margy, all her boys and Mom and Dad, turned into the Franks, McCollows, Pivecs, some Garbers and two sets of Hubbells, all converging on our house for burgers.

The impromptu parties are always the best, don't you think?

I stopped at the store and got ground beef, buns and ice cream sandwiches.  Mom brought baked beans and salad, Mike brought corn on the cob and Woody whipped up a big bowl of home made potato salad.  Woody is demonstrating all kinds of skills I didn't know he possessed.

The kids played Wii in the house and the adults sat on the deck, eating, drinking and talking.  Jay cooked the burgers which were only problematic because I had gotten the 70/30 mix and that much fat makes delicious burgers, but it also drips like mad and the flames almost got out of control.  Jay's the man to control them, though and the burgers were GREAT.

After dinner,  seven of us went to walk around the lake.

I had told MJ that if she could fit it in her car (a toyota), she could take the pink plastic adirondack chair on my deck home.

We've been getting rid of the plastic chairs; they look festive and fun but we don't really like sitting on them.

So, MJ and I tried to load the chair into her car.  It was not easy, seeing as her tiny car already has two baby seats permanently fixed in the back.

Behind us, Mom wanted Dad to wait and see if I could fit into MJ's car, before they drove the mile to the lake.

"I don't know if there's room for both Mary Louise and the chair!" Mom said "Wait and see if she needs a ride."

Dad ignored, or didn't hear her, and pulled away from the curb.  Mom made him drive around the block and come back to us.   When he did, both the chair and I were off of the boulevard.

"Oh, I guess Mary Louise did fit in the car." Mom said.

"One can only wonder what became of the chair." Was Dad's answer.

Katie, who witnessed the entire encounter, told the rest of us, upon arriving at the lake that we'd be glad to know that Mom and Dad do indeed bicker like an old married couple. 

We all walked about a third of the way toward the band stand and then turned around and headed back for the car.  I don't know who made that decision; someone got tired, or thought it might rain, I guess.

It had been raining on and off here in town all day but it never rained where I was.  As we walked, the sun set and the sky just above the tree line over the band stand was a slash of pure crimson beneath the purple over cast sky.  It was breathtaking.

MJ and Mom and Dad didn't go back to the house, but headed straight home after walking.

Margy, Katie and I walked up the drive way and heard Earth, Wind and Fire on the Ipod.

It had been playing Buble when we left.

Clearly, the party inside had taken a turn.

Sure enough, we walked into the kitchen to find Jay and Mike leading the kids in a dance party.  EWF was blaring on the Ipod dock and everyone in the house was boogying like there was no tomorrow.

We leaped right in and danced what Jay called the Fish.

The impromptu parties really are the best.

 

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