solstice party

Our sort-of-kind-of-annual kids' solstice party was a lot of fun, despite (or perhaps because of, since our guest list was a bit too large) several last-minute cancellations due to illnesses and getting lost. We disappointed several children by not having our outside-fire as advertised (Dan had it all set, but we were happier socializing inside), but we let them play in the yard in the dark and that seemed to appease them. Most of our participants decorated a blank puzzle piece (thanks for donating them Mom!) with a wintery/ solsticey theme, and we ate excessively. We were glad that we set up luminarias, that I chipped a path through the ice to the door even though it took forever, and that Dan dragged up our garment rack from the basement so we had enough space to hang coats.

The kids were hilarious. A, who in the past hasn't been terribly thrilled at parties and started out the evening less-than-happy, ended up having a great time playing with the other babies and kids, and was adorable in her new solstice outfit (thanks Mom!) C ran around so much and ate so many cookies in the first part of the night that he was completely exhausted by the time our second round of guests arrived at 8 (which is also his normal bedtime). Some of the kids had specifically come for his sake, since he had been to several parties at their house and wanted them to come to one at his for a change, and it was funny to see him rallying his energy to be a good host for them.

Friends from Arizona were visiting and they commented that we had a lot of different social circles coming together (folks from Roots & Shoots, peace groups, parenting groups, neighbors, etc.) I told them that we HAD to seek out in all directions after all of our original friends moved away....

We have tons of leftovers, and made good use of the veggies, dip, and hummous for dinner tomight. (Thanks Mom!) We're making good use of the leftover desserts every time we walk through the kitchen.

(Now back to work. I need to finish making a castle and renovating C's Playmobil pirate ship tonight!)