P.W. Strikes Again

The Detective Party is tonight and the first thing the boys did was solving the terrible, horrible, brutal murder of George the Creepy Puppet (alias Dave the Serial Killing Puppet, and also Alfie the Cat Eating Puppet).  Luckily, the killer had left a clue.

The boys used decoding wheels they assembled at the start of the party.  Each clue had a code cracking clue ("I'm a puppet you can't murder me, But cracking the code will be 'E-Z'.") to help the boys solve the crime.

Turns out it was Pee-Wee Herman in the living room with with his bare hands!  The criminal was apprehended in the bathtub.  The reward of the activity was their P.I. badges.

S'more Please

This is my 100th post.  Cue streamers and balloons.  Huzzah! 

One must have a sense of humor when they are executing a Nature Party in July in Nebraska.  It was hot, oppressively hot.  Luckily, our neighbor was kind enough to offer up her swimming pool to my wilting guests.  Not exactly a deep and focused meditation on nature but sooooo much more practical and welcome.  We did get to do smores.  But the hot sweaty crowd  passed on a timed nature scavenger hunt and lightening bug catching.  I can't say I blame them.

The very DIY firepit--a recycled washing machine drum.  It is wonderful at night with all of the little dots of light shining through the sides.

Clare preferred her marshmallows plain, thank you very much.

Round Two

I am doing a second Independence Day party for a different set of friends this Saturday.  We generally set up some games in the side yard to keep the kids occupied.  My children and I collaborated on the games below.  I helped with lettering and layout.  They generally did the painting. I outlined everything with a black permanent marker to make the images sharper.  We purchased these boards for less than three dollars each at Menards. 

Notice the shark swimming below the cute ducks.  This boy has inherited my sense of humor.

The tattoo stand generally draws the biggest crowd.  Our tattoos were left out in the rain after this weekend's party.  I will need to do some searching to acquire more patriotic tattoos before this Saturday. 

**DON"T FORGET ABOUT THE GIVE AWAY!!! The person who brings the most followers to Shindig Spree before July 5th will win the fireworks decorations featured on the June 21st post. Good Luck!

BA-DA-BINGO

The Diabolic Bunnies Party is tonight. I will try to post some picture tomorrow of the shindig. I have a money shot in mind that involves either bribery or encouraging my friend to imbibe enough (there is a designated driver) that he will submit to a picture in bunny ears while possibly holding a live bunny and playing Wii. Tune in and see.

I have also been working on details for the the Italian Dinner Party this Sunday. There is a group of four families who plan monthly international dinner parties. We have hosted India and China. The last party we had was for New Zealand. We decided to rent out the town hall and open this one up to our extended families and community friends. We are still debating what food to bring. The four core families also printed up shirts with fake mafia names on the back. Some of my favorites are: The Rodfather, Ron Corleone, Ricco-the-Dog-Niente, and Sicily (for my daughter Cicely--pronounced the same way). My name will be Pacino's Ex. Long Story involving rumors of questionable bedroom practices on Al Pacino's part. Sort of an updated Richard Gere gerbil story, if you will. We are also playing BA-DA-BINGO. Bingo with famous Italian people, landmarks, and delicacies. We will see how it goes.