Easter Game Night

About six months ago we divvied out the next few months of who was going to host game night.  We got April because we found the golden egg during last year's Easter/March game night.  The rule was whomever finds the golden egg they will host Easter, depending on what month it fell on.  You were responsible for filling the eggs with whatever you wanted plus putting an airplane shot of alcohol in each of the eight eggs with holes at the top.  I saved five from previous years and just reused them.  We ended up getting three more shots and just put candy inside the eggs.  I got Reese's peanut butter, Skittles and Starbursts...a little bit of everything.  As for the golden egg I found this really cool carrot thingy that you had to unravel it to find prizes inside.  I thought it was hilarious.

A month before I made sure to update everyone on the Facebook group when it was, what time it was, my address again (everyone seems to need it every time we have something over here) what food everyone was bringing and a head count so I knew how many chairs and tables to set up.  It helped having Suzanne's craft table and the table we bought from Walt and Wendy.  It sounded like we were going to have a pretty good turn out.  The only thing I worried about was the weather.  If the weather was going to be bad we would have to have our Easter egg hunt inside the house instead of outside.  I picked up some Easter bingo prizes and the ingredients for the dessert I was going to make, S'mores cookie cups both gluten and gluten free.

The day of I assigned Ben and Suzanne some chores to do so we could get the house cleaned and the food made.  We all had breakfast together of pancakes, eggs and bacon and then from there worked pretty hard to get everything done before 5:30.  I started in the kitchen and cleaned up from breakfast and started on my S'mores cups.  They took about an hour or so and then I washed those dishes.  I had Ben clean the bathroom and take out the garbage.  I swept and mopped the floor and vacuumed the rugs.  We put our clutter away, wiped off the tables, put them in the dining room and got the table cloths out. Ben went and hid the eggs in the front and back yard.  I went and took a quick shower after being sweaty and gross from cleaning all day. 

Our guests started to arrive and we engaged in some small talk and what we've been up to and if anything was new.  Everyone was pretty much here by 6:15.  Several people used the oven to heat up their food.  Fitzy brought the ham, Nicole brought scalloped potatoes, Lindsay made deviled eggs, Suzanne made salad, Celeste brought dip,  Josh and Heather brought some sort of a bun less taco wrap thingy, there was bread, some desserts and drinks. I still couldn't believe that many people showed up to game night.  I think there was about 14 people.

We ate, visited, laughed and carried on about random things.  The atmosphere was great.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time.  Megan had to leave early so we thanked her for coming.  We cleaned up the table and we all decided to go Easter egg hunting before it got too dark.  No one really wanted to use a flashlight.  I handed out plastic bags.  We had half go out the front door and the other half go out the back.  I supervised the backyard.  Ben yelled GO!   They were off!  It was a mad rush to find them.  There were 31 eggs all together.  Eight had holes in the top with small bottle shots of alcohol, one golden egg with a special prize and 22 regular eggs with candy inside of them.

It was fun to watch people look for them and what places they checked.  We were surprised the golden egg was found as quick as it was.  Justin found it so he and Lindsay were to host next year.  We all found them and headed back inside to see what everyone got.  I handed Justin the prize.  It was a carrot wrapped up in streamer material and as you unravel it prizes were tucked inside of it.  It wasn't the greatest prize but I thought it was funny.

I set up the bingo and we all got cards and markers and had a seat.  We played regular bingo, small picture frame, postage stamp, four corners and had a few winners in each because I got some silly Easter prizes.  We laughed, people pretended to yell bingo and Celeste must have had the lucky cards because she won a lot.  Our finale was blackout and she won that as well.  I didn't have a grand prize so I gave out one of my canning jars Ben and I painted and decorated a few weeks ago.

Everyone helped me clean up the bingo stuff.  By that time it was around 10 and some people had stuff to do the next day with their families.  I thanked everyone for coming.  Our next game night was discussed and we came up with a date, time and Nicole would be hosting it.  I picked up a few things, washed some dishes and then got ready for bed.  I was tired from all the cleaning and getting stuff ready for everyone.  I thought it turned out great and had an awesome turn out.  Until next time. 

Happy Easter Eve!

Next Adventure:  Easter Sunday

Danny's 1st Birthday Party, Two Geocaches and Visiting Ben's Mom

About a month ago we were invited to Chris and Rosa's first birthday part for their son, Danny.  Wendy gave us the date, when we needed to be there and what to bring.  It was set for 12:30. 

That week was busy for us so we didn't have time to get a present plus it was for a one year old, what did he really need?  We asked Wendy but we still didn't come prepared.  That was due to getting up way too late that morning and Ben takes too long to get ready in the morning plus he was working on a video for his Dragon Ball Z group he didn't finish the night before.  We didn't leave until 11:35. 

When we got to I-5 it was bad.  I assumed a bag wreck up ahead.  We checked our WSDOT app and just beyond Dupont a truck had smashed into a semi truck.  We called Wendy to tell her we possibly could be late and to start without us.  It cleared up pretty fast when we drove by the vehicles that were in the accident.  It made me wonder what all the commotion was about because no lanes were closed.  Why was it stop and go?  We will never know the secret behind traffic.

We ended up getting there just after 12:30 and we were the first guests to arrive.  I was floored.  Seriously?  We were the first people to get there?  I thought we would be the last group to arrive.  We asked Chris who all was still coming.  He said they invited a bunch of people but some of them canceled at the last minute.  The neighbors walked on over and Walt's sister arrived shortly after.  The last two people who arrived where some of the people who helped with the haunted house.  I can't remember their names but I've been around them a few times.

We dove into the food as soon as we could.  I was hungry.  They had mini sandwiches, chips, cookies, punch, fruit, veggies and cupcakes.  I really enjoyed the sandwiches because they were made on those Hawaiian rolls which gives them a sweet taste.  I took a handful of chips and some fruit and veggies.  I was pretty happy.  I even tried the punch.  It was way too creamy for me so I just had the one cup.

We sat there and ate our food and chatted.  The them was little monsters so there were balloon monsters, signs, and we could even adopt a monster as a parting gift when we left.  The food was even monster themed and all had names.

We basically sat there and watched Danny make messes with his food and then wanted his mom and dad's food instead of his.  Bubbles were passed out and we all blew bubbles at Danny.  They told us he was really into them.  We cleared our plates and cups and brought out his cake.  We sang to him and his dad helped him blow out the candle.  We were each given a cupcake and he totally destroyed his and ended up wearing it. 

They cleaned him up and then opened his gifts.  He got more bubbles, a push toy and a few outfits to wear.  They put him in his little suit and he ran around in it for a while.  They took the pants off and he looked like Tom Cruise from Risky Business. 

We all hung around and chatted for a while.  We paid our next installment of our table and chairs to Wendy.  We now have $150.00 left on it.  I grabbed one of the monsters to take home with me.

We thanked them for inviting us and headed out to Bonney Lake to hang out with Ben's mom for a bit.

On the way there we stopped and got two geocaches.  One was down the road a bit from Walt and Wendy's house in another housing development.  For some reason my app map did not match the road we were trying to find.  I read the description and saw we had to find a specific road that did not show up on the map.  We followed the road to a dead end sign and we all go out without looking at the hint so we weren't even close.  I walked over to the dead end sign and we found Easy Family Friendly Beginner Cache (GC3026D).  I really didn't think where we parked the car would be a problem because we were pretty much out of the way.  Nope a truck wanted to drive down the dirt road where we had the car.  I got in and moved it as quick as I could to allow the guy to drive off.  I'm sure he wondered what we were doing.

Since it still wasn't raining we grabbed one more since it was just down the road.  We looked for the first one but didn't want to spend a lot of time looking for it so we just moved on and would find it some other time.  We drove a little further up the road and found a place to pull over.  The park was covered in water.  Ben told me that most of the year it is covered in water.  I asked him why didn't they just call it a lake instead of a park?  We walked along the only dry part of the park and grabbed WASRF - P2 (GC14RM4) hanging from one of the small Douglas Fir trees.

We took the back roads to his mom's house.  This weekend her niece and her two 3 year old girls were visiting from Spokane.  She was trying to figure out if she could find a place nearby to purchase since she got a hefty amount of money from when her dad passed away.  She was sorta done with Spokane and needed a change.  Earlier that day they all went to Northwest Trek.  We arrived just as Trish was making dinner.  I wasn't really that hungry but I ended up having some anyway.  We talked to Katrina and watched her girls run around, sorta eat their dinner, cry, pout, laugh and be random.

We also chatted with Trish for a bit on the status of Brad moving out.  The date kept getting moved back.  She was getting frustrated with the whole situation and hoped that he found a place soon.  Then we settled down on the couch just before the girls bedtime.  Trish said that we would read them a story and to go pick one out.  Before that one of the girls read us a bedtime story.  It was hilarious.  Then Trish got her turn and about a half hour later it was their turn to head to bed.  Of course they didn't want to, one pouted and one cried when their mom had to bring them downstairs.  We thanked Trish for dinner, gave everyone hugs and headed home.  I was tired.

We got home, I showered and got ready for bed.  I read one of my library books before settling in completely.  It was a long day and we got to see a lot of people and we were one step closer to having our dining room table and chairs paid off. 

Next Adventure:  Easter Game Night

Disney Paint Night

We had so much fun at the last paint night Nicole decided we should do it again except this time Disney!  Everyone was pretty stoked.  Me, on the other hand, had no idea what Disney character I wanted to paint.  I wondered if we could do non Disney painting so I ran it by Nicole.  She said as long as we can make a stencil of it sure!

I chose Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. I figured he would be an easy silhouette with a moon and a night sky similar to the one we did a few weeks ago. I made sure to find the perfect Toothless for my painting.  I grabbed some chips and salsa to bring for a snack to share with the group too.

Tigs decided to say hi to us for a bit.

Nicole had it set up like the last time, the really awesome Fred Meyer bag table cloth, the various colors of paint and our canvas.  She helped me get my Toothless stencil made and we unpacked our snacks and set them on the kitchen island.  We waited until everyone got there.  This time there were six of us painting whatever Disney/cartoon painting we wanted to do.  Lindsay chose a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cut out, Nicole did a Edna off of The Incredibles, Sarah did a Alice in Wonderland picture, Suzanne did a painting with Lilo and Stitch and Cheyanne did a different Alice and Wonderland painting. 

We got to it!

I started with a background.  I wanted it to be lighter at the bottom and progressively blend it darker to black at the top.  It actually turned out pretty good even though I thought I added too much white to it in certain spots.  It kinda gave it a "cloudy" look.

I took it to the star box and splatted it with white from the bristles of a toothbrush.

It was time for the moon so I asked Nicole for some advice on how to go about it.  She asked how big I wanted the moon to be.  I found the right sized circle and traced it with chalk.  She said the chalk was easy to remove once I was done with it.  I painted my circle white and then added some craters to it with a gray and teal color.

Next I decided where I wanted my Toothless and outlined the stencil with his body and wings and then painted him in with black.  I used red for his broken tail flag.

Then I added some highlights and some minor details so you could tell he was Toothless and then got a group picture after we were all done.  We had to wait a while for Lindsay because her stencil took a really long time to cut out with an X-acto knife.

We helped Nicole clean up a little bit and we all sealed our paintings with some clear coating.  We picked up our stuff and took the rest of our snacks home with us.  We thanked her for hosting and getting all the supplies together and headed home.  I had some laundry and cleaning up to do.

Next Adventure:  Danny's 1st Birthday Party, Two Geocaches and Visiting Ben's Mom