Happy 4th of July!

For the 4th of July we headed over to a good family friend's house. We were planning on going to a big fireworks show, but opted out of that. I am glad we went to Mr. Willis's house. He is a really fun guy. He is all about Harley Davidson motorcycles and he is very handy. When ever we go over to his house we all hang out in his outdoor kitchen that he made and eat wonderful BBQ that he also made! I decided this year to bring a dessert.

I found this recipe over at Pioneer Woman Cooks, who got it from Barefoot Contessa. Talk about yummy. Now, mine is not as pretty at their cakes, but it still tasted wonderful.

Here is a top view. It is soooo tasty. I found out that I am really bad at frosting cakes and trying to make them look pretty. My lines were all squiggly, but maybe that was due to the baby on my leg and the toddler that was trying to help my putting strawberries on the cake? Yes, it was because I was doing three things at one time! Or, I really am just that bad at decorating cakes! I took the left over berries and tossed them into a bowl and brought those for a pre-BBQ treat.

I also made a brisket to take over, it too was so yummy. Now meat is something that I can cook. I love to cook beef. Mr. Willis can also cook some really good beef. When we got to his house, the grilling already had begun.

Mr. Willis has made his own BBQ pits. They are very cool. He welded them and painted them. This one is the coal grill, he has a gas grill too.

The gas grill was cooking the more heat sensitive foods. Mr. Willis is a wonderful grill man. I asked him how he learned how to grill. He answered, "Peanut (a really old black man) taught me all I know. That man really knows how to cook. He would ask me how to build a pit and I would ask him how to cook on it!"

Here Mr. Willis is checking up on the fish and the kabobs.

Shrimp, pepper, and onion! There is one thing that the south has taught me and that is when someone invites you over to a BBQ, you are not going to be eating hot dogs and hamburgers. They BBQ some serious meat here. Meanwhile over at the coal pit.........

The men were grilling up pork steaks, ribs, and the deer meat. I know I have heard the saying, "Too many cooks in the kitchen". Can there be too many Grillers at the Grill?

I mean how many guys does it take to get meat off the grill? I had to laugh. But those three guys right there can grill for me any time. The food will be so tasty, guaranteed. Another fun thing about going to Mr. Willis's house is getting to see family.

Big Grandma was there. She is really Little Cowpoke's Great Grandma, but he likes to say Big Grandma. She is so fun. The boys all love her.

My father in law was there too. Like I haven't seen him in like...hours. He is our neighbor. Good thing he is a good father in law. He helps us out a lot. Mr. Cowboy also decided to come home. It is so nice to have him home. I could use the extra pair of hands every now and then. Oh, and I guess the kids like him too.

Cowpokette can never get enough of her Daddy.

She's got the best seat in the house. But not nearly as cool as Little Cowpoke's seat.

This fancy seat is so cool! It's a homemade motorcycle seat stool, complete with saddle bags. Mr. Willis made this too!! I love the foot pegs for the foot rest. He just is a super talented guy. He can fix motorcycles, build anything, and can BBQ like you wouldn't believe!! We left the BBQ just around "drunk" time. We came home and did some fireworks in the yard. We had a fun day!! I hope everyone else had a great day!