Neighborhood cookout

I know I've mentioned our neighbors about a thousand times, but seriously--these guys are worth bragging about! A couple months ago, some of the women in the community threw out the idea that we should have a meet-and-greet cookout while the weather was warm and there was gas in the grills. The idea becames door-to-door-delivered flyers, which led to a meeting to set the plans in motion, then another meeting a week or two to finalize everything and finally--last weekend the tents were propped, grills fired up and everybody filed over into the cul de sac with casserole dishes and we had a great time. There's a DJ that lives in the neighborhood, who set up his equipment. Everyone was up dancing, having a good time. James complained a little about the noise and sat with me while I played awkward white girl at the table, but Riley jumped right on in!

One family set up a sno-cone machine, popcorn maker, and made funnel cakes.

There was soooo much food! We started a couple hours early, around 2 o'clock, because it was threatening to rain. Aside from a small sprinkling, nothing much happened so we stayed for hours and ate, talked, played, and ate again.

Many of the neighbors are grandparents, and had their grandkids there. Crystal, one of the women who organized the whole thing, had her granddaughter there and Riley clung to her the whole time! She was his girlfriend--feeding him, dancing with him, playing on all the trikes and riding toys. He was hooked!

She taught him the cupid shuffle! It was precious. Everybody was cracking up at him out there. He kept dragging her by the hand back out to dance after that.

The only complaint anyone had about the day was the heat. Everyone was red-faced and sweaty, but there were plenty of cool drinks and three tents set up for shade. The kids all played so hard, there were no fights at bed time (however pulling Riley away from his girlfriend to head home that night included a couple tantrums).

The turn out was great. Everyone was so friendly, asking us about Jason, talking about the kids, where we've moved from, God, and talking on every subject. Watching my kids running around the cul de sac and through the yards with all the other kids, chasing each other--it was perfect. Exactly my dream of the quiet subdivision, friendly people, and my kids being able to go outside and play and have other kids to play with. And to feel safe.

We talked about starting some cookouts earlier next year, around the Spring when it's not too warm, yet. I hope that Jason will get to go to one and meet everyone like I have, before we end up moving next. I hated that he couldn't be there. It's been so wonderful to have such a support system, especially with Jason being gone, and being new. After six moves in four years, I can tell you how hard good neighbors are to come by! From day one they've been here for us, before they even knew us--before the moving truck was empty! We've never had that before. I'm so grateful that we ended up here.