With the weather kind of iffy that time of year around here, we decided to throw a "40 years and 4 months" party during the summer. The weather at the end of August is typically more predictable than that of April. (We didn't exactly expect this year to be as atypical as it has been, but thankfully for us, the weather cooperated very nicely for us last Saturday.)
My parents were the first to arrive, as planned, a few hours before the rest of the guests to help with any last minute preparations. In reality, we had things fairly well good to go by that point considering we had been working off and on to tidy up the house and yard during the summer. What this meant is that Anna got some good game time in with Grandma before the party started.
We were extremely glad for the assistance my parents did provide during the party itself. While my mom was in charge of the kitchen, my dad did all of the grilling.
In preparation for the party, Matt created another obstacle course around the yard.
The kids made signs that afternoon for the different portions.
Since they were in a sign making mood, the kids also made signs for the different coolers. Even Ethan helped :)
Kate was the most enthusiastic sign maker, creating one for the chicken coop door as well as the girls' bedroom door where Rusty was quarantined. We fixed the spelling on this one, though, so guests knew they could enjoy "sparkLing" water.
Church friends, work friends, and neighbors all came to celebrate Matt and enjoy some fellowship together on one of the last weekends of the summer.
Games were played both outdoors and indoors.
The play tower was a hit with both adults and kids.
Garage tours and radio controlled car races were more popular with the boys than the girls ... isn't that often the case?
And, of course, food was a hit with everyone, young and old.
Emphasis on the "old" ... especially when you have THIS many candles on your cake :)
In the end, we decided that we had a great time and were glad that we took the leap to plan this shindig. We had fun; our guests had fun; the kids had fun; and we all celebrated Matt together. But ... we're not going to do anything quite like this again for a long time :)
No comments:
Post a Comment