poolside bbq

I love summer standards. Although technically our weather is pleasant enough to enjoy warm-weather activities year-round, there is something about summertime that screams bonfires and barbecues. We've had a couple bonfires already this summer, and sitting around a fire with friends, s'mores, and the occasional guitar reminds me of the countless bonfires we enjoyed growing up. The other summer staple is the backyard barbecue. We don't technically have a backyard, but we do have a pool and a beach, so we adjusted to the surroundings. I was craving grilled food and some of my favorite company, so we hosted a snorkel + poolside cookout on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Although no photos were taken, most of our group snorkeled for the better part of an hour along the reef near our house. The weather was perfect - plentiful sunshine and low wind meant great visibility and little surface chop on the swim to and from our snorkel destination. The distance to the reef doesn't make for the easiest swim, so we used the appetites we worked up to fuel our grilling efforts.

NS was our grill master, preparing enough of this chicken recipe for our group of ten. Everyone else brought a dish to share. It seemed like everyone pulled out all the stops; look at the variety we got!

Three unique, incredible salads - so perfect for a poolside meal, and no one dish duplicating the next!

And then, because no one can turn away copious amounts of carbs, B&K (let me stress that this was a team effort) baked homemade mac and cheese.

Here's my plate. My first plate, that is.

I think this photo captures how we all felt when we dug in.

Of course, whenever we have open dishes outside, we have to give consideration to our resident insect population. The mosquitoes are particularly bad this time of year; thus, the tiki torches and mosquito candles.

Keep your eye on this tiki torch; it gets some more action a bit later.

Dinner was nicely timed to end right as the sun began to set. We covered all the remaining food and grabbed chairs to reconvene a few short steps away on the beach.

It's weird that even though we live on a small island and it should be easy to see all our friends on a regular basis, between work and vacations and errands and just life in general, sometimes weeks will go by without us seeing some of our favorites. It was good to have this group on the beach with me.

So we were all sitting around, watching the sunset, chatting away, when all of a sudden one of those tiki torches decided to give us some drama. Before I knew it, several of the boys had jumped the mini wall to put out a fire that was beginning to form on the lawn from a tipped-over torch. Apparently that grass was drier than we thought!

They were successful, although NS did earn himself an oil burn out of the experience.

Somehow, still smiling.

So, after that minor setback, we gathered around the remaining mosquito-deterrent devices for dessert!

Notice the prominent bottle of bug spray on the table.

Having sweets in our stomachs must have put everyone in a silly mood, because we were soon playing a game that B&K taught us involving random phrases and randomer drawings. I don't think I laugh any harder than when seeing everyone's pictorial interpretations. Seriously, I wish had taken more photos of the sketches, but this is all I could manage amid the belly laughs.

Hot yoga, of course (which evolved from "Yoga Meltdown")

I can't even remember? An elephant with with an a genetically-enhanced tail?

So my parting collage is a set of photos of artists at work. I probably giggled as I took each picture. What a great way to enjoy friends on a weekend. Food. Sunset. Fire. Belly laughs.

Let's do it again soon.