Summer 2015 was not going to let last winter show her up and
we were hit with the heat and humidity.
We are ones to never let weather stand in our way and it may have slowed
us a bit at times but we did not let it win.
This was also the last summer before Little Man starts his academic
career and we needed it to be great.
We blinked and the Fourth of July was upon us, the soccer
club was once again marching in the parade and Mom had bought a new trailer
this year for her business but it seemed like the perfect thing for the
parade. We decked it out with walls,
decorations and benches for the kids to stand and sit on during the
parade. I woke up early that morning and
headed out to Elgin Illinois to direct the parade there. I always enjoy their parade and my hope is
that one year the kids can come out to see it with me. As soon as the parade was over I quickly said
goodbye and headed for the Munster parade.
I made it in time and quickly changed into the soccer ball costume. Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Jim joined us and
rode in the truck. Auntie JeaJea marched
along with us. Rock and Mimi stayed home with Auntie Jame. The kids had fun seeing all their soccer
friends and playing before we started.
The parade was extremely hot but they toughed it out and had some fun
along the way.
Jame decided to try playing in the three on three tournament
in soccer so, his off season from soccer was not only filled with Summer Camp,
Sporty for Shorty’s and now soccer practice.
This was the first time the soccer club had a lot of teams playing in
the tournament. Jame’s team was young
for the tournament and it became clear that not only were they young but they
also were outplayed by more advanced teams.
The biggest thing was that he had fun that day playing soccer and
hanging out with the other kids.
The Gruesome Twosomes birthday was getting close and plans
were on a roll for the big day. This
year we had decided on a cowboy cowgirl party.
Mom had gotten a lead on horses for horse rides. We started off with a cowboy photo shoot for
the invitations the kids had great fun getting dressed up and playing cowboys,
well Jame and Hope did I’m not so sure Rock knew what was going on. I took the pictures and came up with a wanted
poster invitation that with a little help from some old coffee and burned the
edges. The invitation turned out
fantastic, now all we needed to do was top last year’s pirate party.
I shared my Pintrest finds and we were off. We raided the recycling center to get
cardboard boxes to build an old west town.
Auntie JeaJea did an awesome job of designing the town, complete with
Mimi’s Café, School House “Rock”, Miss Hope’s Boarding house Jame’s General
Store, a saloon and of course a Sherriff’s office and jail. I ordered a bunch of squirt guns so we could
have a shootout on the street. Auntie JeaJea and Mimi gathered a bunch of
milk jugs and other plastic jugs and with a little paint they became totem
poles, they turned out very whimsical and a perfect fit for the party. We used mom’s new trailer and turned it into
a stage coach with the help of some PVC pipe and a painter’s tarp. We also had the train, a piñata and of course
the bounce house. With the help of
Facebook, I made wanted signs for all those who planned on attending.
All of our planning and hard work could not overcome the
weather. The days and weeks before the
party the weather was either extremely hot or rainy. The day before the party we had to lay a
mulch path from the back to the front since the ground was so wet. The path actually worked out since it led
everyone right threw the old west town.
I took the tractor for a spin, it was wet on the trail but
passable. After all the rain the day of
the party the temperature shot up. We
got a lot of people and kids who thought it was just too hot to go out. We forged ahead and changed a few things;
there was a great shootout and everyone joined in shooting everyone, it was a
pleasant cool down on a hot day. We
still did the piñata and ran the train but some of the games we nixed because
of the extreme heat.
The horses showed up and we had hoped that they could walk down
the path but it was too wet. Instead
they walked around the drive. Mom did a
great job, Hope’s eyes lit up when she saw the horses coming into the yard. Hope could hardly contain herself wanting to
jump up on the small pony. Once she got
up, I thought we might never get her off.
Hope wanted nothing to do with the big horse but kept riding the pony
over and over again. Jame had no problem
and jumped right up on the big horse and rode it around, he even felt the need
to go inside and take his bathing suit off and get into his cowboy outfit to
ride the horse. The kids and adults had
a great time riding the horses and then feeding apples to the horses.
Getting a cowboy cake was not as easy as we had thought it
would be; I guess kids are not into cowboys as they once were. We called our normal place to order the cake
and asked if we could get photos on it and they informed us the photo machine
was broken and they had no idea when it would be up again. A few more phone calls and a couple of stops
at bakeries we found that Walt’s would be able to do the cake with the
pictures. Walt’s did an awesome job with
the cake and went above and beyond it was simply terrific! When we cut into the cake the taste was just
as good. I think we found a new place
for cakes.
The party did not go off as planned but the kids did have
fun and enjoyed themselves. The heat and
humidity may have dampened the plans but it was still a great time and a lot of
memories for the kids. I have already
begun pinning for next year’s Star Wars party.
The kids have begun watching Star Wars in anticipation of the release of
Star Wars 7 this winter. Hope has
decided that Darth Vader is her favorite because he lifts people up with his
hands. I guess it is time to trade in
the six shooters for lightsabers.
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