Yeah I think Saturday works best for everyone. We can start around 2pm so people have time to run errands in the morning. I was thinking we could do a potluck style since that always works well with our group. Just have everyone bring a dish and we can coordinate the main categories so we don't end up with five desserts and no main course. I'll handle the grill and provide burgers and hot dogs plus buns and condiments. If you could bring a side dish that would be great. Maybe that pasta salad you made last time everyone loved it. I'll send out a group message later today to confirm who's coming and what they're bringing. We have enough chairs but if anyone has a folding table bring it along. The weather forecast looks good so we can set up in the back. I'll put up some string lights so we can stay out after dark. Also I wanted to ask if you have that portable speaker we could use for music. Nothing too loud just some background tunes. And if you have any outdoor games like cornhole or ladder ball bring those too people always enjoy them.

Let me know if you think of anything else we might need. I will pick up ice and drinks on the way home Friday. We should have plenty of cups and plates from last time.

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We finished the deck staining last weekend and it turned out really well. We used the semi-transparent cedar tone and it soaked in nicely. The prep work took longer than we expected because we had to sand some rough spots first. Next time I would start earlier in the season so we have more daylight hours. We rented a sprayer which made the job go faster but cleaning it took forever. If you are planning to do yours I would recommend just using rollers and brushes. The sprayer saves time on the application but the cleanup and masking offsets any time savings. We used about four gallons for a 12x16 deck with two coats. Make sure you check the weather forecast for a few days of dry weather. We had to wait an extra week because of rain. The sealer we used was a water-based product and it has low odor which was nice working around the house. One thing I would do differently is apply the second coat within 24 hours rather than waiting longer. The instructions said you could wait up to 48 hours but adhesion is better when applied sooner. Also we used more material on the second coat because some had soaked into the bare wood areas.

Overall I am happy with how it came out and it brought new life to the deck. If you end up doing yours let me know and I can lend you our roller handles and drop cloths.