Project 365: Day 106

July 18, 2009
Softball BBQ Birthday

Paul and Mark have birthdays that are less than a week apart. Years ago it became their tradition to have a big, joint birthday party. Tradition was set that the day starts with a softball game and ends with a BBQ and a keg. The tradition took a little break while we were living in Boston. Now that Paul and Mark are both back in town and Paul and I have a house that is capable of hosting such an event, the softball/BBQ day has been revived.

Carrie's dog Truman

We started the day off with the softball game at a park in our neighborhood. We played under a sky that looked menacing and temperatures that were unseasonably cool. As hosts and birthday boys, Paul and Mark got to be team captains. They picked teams the old-fashioned gym class way, which means somebody had to get picked last. Gasp! I woke up with a backache which resulted in Paul spending the morning threatening to not pick me for his team. Luckily, I did get selected for his team and it wasn't just because I was the last person left. Everyone played hard and, if they are like me, are feeling quite sore today.

After the game, we headed back to our house for a potluck BBQ, to drink the keg and to properly christen the firepit. Paul and I had made a fire for the two of us a few weeks after moving in, but this was the first time we had a crowd over to fill in the 360 degree seating. We figured out that it is an 18-seater!

Mary and Ronnie brought these cute olive/cream cheese/carrot penguins and Shannon made Paul's birthday cake in his likeness!

It was so much fun to get to know Paul's group of friends better and to be able to host everyone comfortably in our house. The person we bought the house from said he enjoyed entertaining and made a lot of updates to the house with that in mind. I think he did quite a good job of it!