Church Picnic

It was our turn to plan our church's summer picnic this year. I use the word 'turn' loosely. My hubs and I calculated that we've helped to plan at least 7-8 of the 15 picnics since our church started. We've also carefully calculated what we will say next year if they ask us to do it again. "Nope, not happening."  I really don't mind planning it. It's a party after all, one of my specialties, and it's only for one day. I've gained lots of little tricks through the years but I'm also running out of new, creative ideas.

We had absolutely p.e.r.f.e.c.t. weather this year. 85 degrees. no humidity. a nice breeze and sunshine. The bottom line is, the weather makes it or breaks it. We've had years when we planned all kinds of fun games and big feasts and it was simply to hot to move. And then there was the year of the tropical storm which kind of put a damper on the whole wiffle ball tournament. (corny pun intended :)

Our best idea for "new and different" this year was to rent a Dunk Tank. It was a HIT!

Dunked by the Mrs.

I'm not sure which was longer, the line to dunk or the line to be dunked. 

 

Such good sports we have!

 Beware of what you initiate, you may be forced to participate!

 

 

And sometimes the dunk-er's reaction is even better than the dunkee's! He was helping to pick up the balls for another round when he bumped the trigger accidentally. OOPS!

I used craft paper for the tablecloth and then set out jars of markers for decorating. The kids (big and little) thought it was grand. And I used quart jars of candy for paper weights that double as the age old 'Guess How Many' game (proof of my taxed creative state!)

It's not a church picnic without soft ice cream. Mmm!

Kid's Games. (you might be able to pick out which kids in this church are my favorite)

Wiffle Ball

And of course FOOD.

We called on the expert BBQ-er and he taunted us all afternoon with 'that smell.' It was even more delicious than it looks and it sure made my job easier! I told you I've learned some things along the way.

Throw in some iced coffee, lawn chairs under a shade tree, friends and a good conversation and you've got yourself a party with something for everyone.

Special thanks to everyone who showed up, volunteered to bring food, entertained children, endured the port-o-john without complaint, and helped clean up the mess!

 Feel free to use any or all of these ideas if they call you to plan your church picnic next year, I won't be needing them!

Made Me Smile Monday

{a  snapshot --or two-- from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

Sandwich Fresh Peaches & Cream Cheese

Add a crackling fire on a cool evening.

Toast to perfect golden crispiness

Enjoy with that steamy cup a java your Hubzy just delivered!

SMILE!

Front Porch

One of the things I love most about my old house is my big front porch. It's a lovely place. At least if you can ignore the motorcycles roaring by. I suppose getting up before they do would work too, but that's not a game I'm very good at. Every once in a while I manage to sneak out with my cup of coffee before any little people start running wild. It's a fantastic way to start the day.

The other thing I love about my porch is the picnic table right outside my kitchen door. It's quick and easy to serve the kids lunch out there and we often enjoy dinner out there in the evenings. There is just one problem. The sun likes to beat in right on that corner just about the time I like to serve dinner. We've had one too many squint-y eyed dinners with whining to boot. So I came up with a plan.

I purchased a couple packs of drop cloth from the home improvement store, put in a few simple hems, and wha-la, CURTAINS!

The patient hubs rigged up the wire for me. Not too thick. Not too rough. Not too redneck. Not too loose....fussy much? He did a great job in spite of my help. I dug out the package of little clips from IKEA that I really *needed* two years ago but hadn't open yet. They are perfect for the job. The metal holders, from a yard sale, to keep them tied back, were the icing on the cake.

I finished them just in time for my Mom's birthday celebration. Yup, that means I procrastinated all summer and then crammed the night before so they'd be ready. Sort of the same thing, right?

My other fun projects...

Frame -- yard sale $1
Chicken wire -- yard sale free pile
A couple of staples and 3 minutes later...

Thanks to Clarita's tutorial I was inspired to make pinwheels to add a little pizazz too. So simple. So fun. You should try it. No, not just one. One of every color, in a couple of different sizes!

Food is always a drawing factor, at least for my family.

It's not a birthday party without a cheesecake. I'm usually more of a chocolate, caramel, espresso kind of girl but this vanilla one with fresh peaches was worth every calorie too.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Party is over now, so  if you need me for anything, I'll be out on my porch, the coffee is ready!!

the photo shoot

I was packing up the last few things when I decided to throw in white T's, you know, just in case they volunteered to pose for me some time while we were gone. Ha! Ha!

I did the same thing when we went to Florida this spring. (Come to think of it, I might do it every time I pack suitcases for any length of time.) But they didn't get used then. That makes it far more urgent this time right?

I tried to break it to the hubs gently and make it as painless as possible. I'm not sure if my attempts were successful or not.

I have this picture from our trip to Florida in 2010 enlarged and framed in my living room. I love it but I thought maybe it was time for an update. Perhaps one that includes ALL of my offspring.

I was afraid we'd run out of sunlight before we collected enough of cooperation but I  wish we had waited another 20 minutes and avoided all the shadow-y-ness. About the time we gave up and the camera batteries were on there last leg the lighting was so much better. Oh well.

We had some of this....

The real bunch. Unedited!

 And this....

We decided maybe individual shots was a better idea....

 

Somebody had the grand idea to pose with Mommy....everyone else needed a turn too...

For the record, I am still taller!

I was pleased to get one good shot of the two of us. My junior photographers are not usually patient enough to mess with luxuries like focusing and such.

 

  We eventually got one or two (kind of) workable shots.

But the truth is, they're an awful lot easier to capture from the back...

(Something about that rings a bell from our last crazy attempt.)

But aren't they sweet?

F.i.n.a.l.l.y. Mom set us free and we can run....

References to 'Sweet Frog' [our latest treat of choice. a dozen plus flavors of frozen yogurt. 357 give or take a few, toppings. Yummy!] may or may not have been made frequently during the photography portion of the evening to encourage good behavior and cooperation.

But for real, everybody knows that if Mom is hungry for Sweet Frog on vacation....

family vacation

We took a few days off to relax with the family last week. I think this might have been our first solo trip, just us and our not so little family. We've gone on plenty of excursions but they usually involve friends and/or family. This one probably would have been the same if we had planned ahead far enough to find someone that it suited to join us. But we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves the way it turned out.

We spent most of our time soaking up the sun and digging in the sand, with an occasional game of "chicken" with the waves rolling in. We dug holes, big holes, refilled buckets with water, washed off sandy hands, distributed snacks, washed off sandy hands, rescued washed up jelly fish, slathered lotion, collected treasures, washed off sandy hands.....

Kite Flying Fun

  There was no agenda, no schedule, and it was grand! I tried to plan simple meals that we could throw on the grill so that it was a vacation for me too. It often seems like vacation is when Mom works twice as hard so everyone else can have fun but I really tried to avoid that this time.  I think it worked at least some of the time. We're getting to a stage where everyone can help too, that sure makes a difference.
The last time our family was at the beach at least one or two of the people had to be carried as well as all the gear. Daddy ended up making two trips back and forth to the van to get everything unloaded and reloaded. This year, we arrived at the beach and divvied out the gear. Even the little girl could help carry sand toys. As we headed toward the boardwalk the first day Garry looked at me and said, "is this all that's left for me to carry?" I've noticed it over and over this summer, we are suddenly in a different stage then we had been for the past 12 years. It's bittersweet this "everybody's independent" stuff but for the purposes of relaxing vacation it leans more heavily to the sweet side.

These two thought they were way cool to be taking off around the neighborhood on bikes. For those of us with issues keeping 2 wheeled objects balanced there was plenty of puzzles, books, coloring, games etc. to fill our "had enough sun" hours. It's funny how simple things, like coloring, are just so much more exciting when Mom and Dad join in. We taught the kids how to play Dutch Blitz (youth group flashback alert!) and Scrabble. One boy even said, "I don't know if I wanna have a movie night if we can play games instead." Music to my Mama ears! Another sign that times are changing, we're moving on from games of chance and color to games that the adults actually enjoy (rather than endure.) There is NO bitter in that, it's all SWEET!

It was a lovely few days of just being with my sun kissed babies! (Shh! don't tell them I called 'em that.) Of course our family vacations are never complete without a photo shoot attempt, but this post is long enough and has taken me way to long already so we'll save that for next time...