Party Time!

With the boys having recently celebrated their birthdays, it was time to have a party! And although we've been living in our new town for over 7 months, we really don't have any good friends for the kids. They have acquaintances from our homeschooling groups and Awana... but we really haven't made any true connections yet. So when it came time to plan a party, we decided to head back to Jake's hometown and celebrate with good friends that have remained through the years. One family, the Bouchers, graciously offered to host the party at their house, which was such a blessing because they have a wonderful basement where all the kids ran crazy while the adults stayed upstairs and enjoyed our own party.

After a couple hours of food and fun, we decided we should gather the troops for some games. As it was January in Virginia, the weather wasn't ideal for outdoor fun (hence the blessing of a basement)! We started with "pin the star on the shield" - that would be Captain America's shield, for those of you not in the 'know'. 

We followed with a piñata. This was my second attempt at a homemade piñata, and after consulting a friend on my failures from last time, this piñata was definitely a success. This time around I opted for an easier method of decorating (a mosaic technique with tissue paper) and the reinforced rope held out the whole time. Yay! 

 

We also let each child take one swing per turn without a blindfold, as since we were indoors the piñata was being suspended by a pole held up by two fathers. Not a good situation for letting the kids run around blindfolded with a bat! 

Lucky swing number 17 finally busted it open!

The mad dash for the candy followed:

 And of course, there must be cake at a party!

The party crowd (minus a little one and an infant):

 The adults (plus a little one):

We had a great time celebrating and reconnecting with good friends... I only wish we lived a bit closer to make visits easier. The next day, when we were discussing what to do, the children all wanted to go play with their friends again. Oh, if only we could!