Saturday Dojo Party

Joe decided to have a dojo get together. He lives in Illinois, about one half hour's drive south from our current dojo, and about 20-something minutes south of my house. I had his address, so I used my Tom Tom to find my way. I love my sat-nav. I'd be lost without it.
We left the dojo about 1:00 or so. The younger, single people went straight to Joe's from there. I went home to clean up and collect my family. Lu made home made mac-n-cheese with the potato chip topping that needs to be baked in the oven. It's a family favorite, but Lu complains that it gets dry too quickly. It doesn't seem to matter how much milk we add, it gets dry. I still like it, though. As I'm writing this, Lu and I were just talking about the party, and we discovered that we were the only people who brought food. Most people only brought beer, or brought nothing at all. At least when Lu and I go somewhere, we do it right. Lu also noticed that nobody brought any dessert.
I think we arrived about 2:30 or so. The young people had already eaten, but who cares? Joe made brats, hamburgers and baked pork and beans. As we mentioned, we added the mac-n-cheese. There was also some home made taco dip and chips, but I think Joe and his wife made that. I ate a little, but Lu ate even less. I didn't eat much because as I was pulling up to Joe's house, he came walking out and told me to park my car in his driveway. I followed directions, since he's a Lt. Colonel in the army, so when he gives an order, I listen. I tried to back up, but as I did, I lost sight of his low-to-the-ground car and our bumpers rubbed against each other. We both lost some paint, but that's all. That's all. Right. It was enough for my day to be pretty much ruined. I hate doing that. Joe didn't seem to mind at all, and I just kept apologizing. Again, and again. I told him if there was any cost to fix his car, I'd take care of it. Again, it was just some paint, but I felt terrible. I've already decided that I'm going to buy him a very nice bottle of wine, and bring it to him on Tuesday at the dojo. Joe is a red wine drinker, I discovered.
As the day wore on, the party seemed to break up into two groups: the older people, including me, and the younger people. I mostly stayed with the older people, except when Gabriella or Isadora wanted to play the beanbag toss game that the younger people just couldn't seem to get enough of. I tried it a couple times, but couldn't get the feel of it. We have the game here at home, and I seem to do much better here.
Joe had a very interesting house. He grew up there, and his parents lived there until their deaths. He inherited the house, and has lived there ever since. He said the house started out very small and was added on to twice. A quick look at the outside confirmed what he said. Parts of his house were very old. There was a very large deck out back, and a swimming pool that comes into play later. He also added a Japanese garden, which was very beautiful. We sat and talked, and Joe had a great time showing off his garden, and his his house in general.
After a bit, the young people decided to go into the pool. It was the Esther William's model. About four feet deep, and maybe 15 feet across. It was also really cold. The guys jumped in, but the two girls took a long time to lower themselves in. It rained all morning long, and despite my telling Lu to pack suits for the girls, she decided not to. Fortunately, Joe, who is only two years older than me, has several grandchildren. His wife asked if Isadora wanted to get into the pool, noting that she had a size 6X girl's bathing suit in the house. Isadora jumped at the chance to get into the pool.
The young people were in the pool, including Terri, Andrew, Michael, Ashley (they are a couple), and Nick. They are all single except Terri, although she acts like she's single. I also noticed she kept going back to her cell phone to call her husband. I think she was trying to get him to come to the party, although he never showed up while we were there. The young people were doing a whole lot of splashing around, and Joe had a wide variety of pool floaty devices, which the young people were using in a variety of ways. Isadora still wanted to swim. Because of the what Lu didn't pack, I didn't have a swim suit either. I needed one, because the pool was four feet deep, and Isadora couldn't go in without me. Fortunately, Joe had a pair of Army swim trunks that he let me borrow. I was amazed that they fit, since Joe looks a lot thinner than me. They were a bit snug going over my bum, but otherwise, they were good. Lu said I looked good.
The older people could easily tell how cold the pool was, and when they saw me taking my daughter in, they agreed that I was a good dad.
I made my way into the pool, and it's an understatement to say it was cold. I didn't want to be like the girls and take forever to get in, but I also wasn't going to do a cannonball, either. I just used the ladder, and lowered myself in without pause. Did I mention the water was cold? Once I got in, some, including Sensei, asked if I thought the water was cold. I said, "A little," which elicited a laugh from the dry and warm people on the deck. It was time for Isadora to get into the water. She looked around and saw a floaty device that was basically a boat. "Here, Daddy." She threw it in the pool so I could hold it as she climbed in. I am in this water freezing, and she's completely dry. I pulled her around the pool, keeping as far from the young as I could. After a while, she decided to get into a small tube. That was fun. By the time she tried to get onto the third floaty thing, she was too cold, and I said it was time to get out. I was happy that pool time was over.
We left soon after that. It was about 6:00, I guess. I brought ten bottle of beer with me, five Sam Adams Light, and Five Berghoff Summer Wit. The Berghoff was a very famous German restaurant in Chicago. They hired a brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin to brew beer for the restaurant. The beer became popular enough that they licensed the name and recipe and now it's sold in some liquor stores. It was pretty good. I left some of each in Joe's cooler in case somebody wanted some later, and took the rest home. We were not the first to leave, but pretty darn close. I think Joe was going to start a fire in the pit and have everyone make s'more's. I think we left at the right time. The girls were tired, and were happy to get home. Lu and I were also happy to get home.