Summer Lovin' II, The Burbs

This weekend me and the D took a field trip to the Oakland suburbs for a grilled meat orgy with my friend Brad, his wife Stacy, kids Mailey (3 yrs) and Addison (8 months), and one dog named Cheddar.
I have major respect for the whole family thing and find it amazing that parents can still form complete sentences and eat real meals not involving Cheerios or Goldfish, what with all the high-volume and high-energy squealing, flailing, dancing and crying going on. Thank God I brought my famous Betty Crocker cupcakes, as the excited children (there were two other guests) kept busy for at least an hour with the Cupcake Treasure Hunt, while the adults ate dinner.
Now back to the orgy. Since D is new to the whole grilling business, Brad wanted to show him the meat ropes so to speak, and D was attentive as Brad lovingly demonstrated his wet and dry meat rub techniques, and how to give sausages a proper beer bath. Oh!
Not only did Brad grill up beer-soaked sausages, and skirt steak for carne asada tacos, he also made the rarely seen pork triple play; a pork loin, stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in bacon. Oink.
I played my part in this flesh-eating bonanza, with the extra special baked beans I made. Say what you will about the epicurean low rung occupied by the humble baked bean, I'm from the East Coast where beans 'n' franks were a weeknight staple. Thanks Mom! Not for the impatient, my recipe involved soaking the beans (white Northerns) overnight, frying up bacon and onions, making the baked bean sludge from scratch (email me for the recipe), and baking it all for about 4 hours. I think Brad and D both had three helpings.
After all the food-consuming, dog-petting and baby-holding, me and D sat tired on the couch while the real adults danced and sang to the Ramones with their kids. Parenting is punk rock!