We're exhausted from all that entertaining. But it's nice to have people over you haven't seen in a while. Smoking dead animals is still a work in progress. Mrs. Fly's chicken wings were really good - we smoke them for 2 hours and then finish them off on the grill, so they're smoky and juicy inside and slightly crispy outside. The pork ribs we started in the oven and finished off in the smoker were better, but not great. I think I should give the 100% smoked ribs another try. The beef ribs were a little better, but I'm not a big fan of soy-sauce based marinades for beef - maybe because I grew up with that. I think a more traditional BBQ rub is in order for next time. The huge disappointment was that the local store stopped carrying wagyu beef!!!  I guess that's what happens when we don't stop by regularly to buy up their inventory. Doh! The marinade my sister made for the skirt steak was good, but it was a little heavy-handed on the salt.

I think about half the guests thought Stumpy was a real coyote or a real dog, because he moves around a little bit in the wind. One one family was about to run away, one family wouldn't let the kids go near the playground and another family thought Stumpy was a well-trained dog because he just stayed in the same spot. I guess if it can fool humans, it can probably fool geese. I haven't seen Whale or Sainter for two weeks now, so I'm hoping they are gone for good, and they're not just taking a little break - like flying to Vegas for the WSOP or anything.

It was really hot and humid Saturday, so I kind of wished I had bought that water slide - especially when all the kids ended up spraying each other with water guns anyway. It was supposed to be 50% chance of thunderstorms, but there wasn't a single drop of rain. Sunday the forecast was the same, but it rained for about an hour. Fortunately, it was a lot less humid after the rain.

I got plenty of sleep last night and took a nap today, and now I'm ready to play some poker!