Vacation Shenanigans!

New Englanders are perhaps a bit more prone to cabin fever than their southern counterparts....  So our family has a tradition to combat that dull and lifeless time of year.  All day sledding parties!  We go from 10-10 and invite everyone we can think of!  Crazy gatherings with herds of kids, goofy games, and some kind of entertainment.  Like duck tape.

Soooooo... what do a bunch of crazy teens do with several roles of duck tape?  And why do we call these parties SLEDDING parties?  The kids go sledding for a few minutes, then spend the rest of the day snacking, throwing marshmellows, playing games, whipping a ping-pong ball back & forth, and gabbing!  Oh... and decorating cars with duck tape.  Or taping each other into chairs.  Or to each other.  Or to walls....

I would sooooo love to share pictures, but I don't like to post other people's kids here unless I know its ok.  We did count, though... 23 kids in one photo!  Plus a few brave adults.  And the kids kept showing up throughout the day... I just forgot to dig the camera out again.  Too busy trying to keep snacks on the table, I guess! 

The day really was a wonderful start to vacation week!  Miss Sassy spent the day at Camp Nana & Boppa.  She even had her little friend, Bus Buddy, visit with her!  The other girls each had a herd of friends over.  The herds tended to hang out together and stampeded the kitchen only when foraging for food.  Or when their clothes were wet from sledding.  Or someone had a boo boo.  Or they needed more duck tape....  Oh, yeah!  I stayed busy....  lining up the crock pots, cutting fruits and veggies, getting out more games, scraping marshmellows off the floor, throwing more clothes through the wash.  And I wouldn't change a minute of the day!  (Especially since after the last remnants of food were served, I got to escape to the loft and join the ping-pong play offs!)

Another photo of what's been keeping me busy during vacation!  The girls brought their trombones home, so we have five (yes FIVE) trombones to use as doorstops....  My husband doesn't quite understand why we need so many trombones.  Oldest two kiddos play, so that accounts for two.  I play, so make that three accounted for.  Oh... except that I LOVE to play!  And recently invested in a second trombone.  Really a sensible investment for a trombone player.  Really... one large bore, one small bore.  Completely different sounds.  Ok... he's still not getting it and thinks I have become a very expensive wife....  Oh!  And the 5th trombone is the "fleet spare" for when we are all playing together and the kids forget to bring theirs home from school.  Sensible.  REALLY.

Oh!  A couple buddies and I just started a weekly trombone jam session.  Just in case two bands, a quartet, and playing in church didn't allow enough play time!  These guys are THE BEST!  We played, talked, and laughed half the night.  Sometimes we laughed at the playing... sight reading does produce some interesting chords!  Especially when we don't look at the lables on the music and start out with the most difficult piece...

And Miss Sassy!  Miss Sassy has trouble walking in all this white stuff.  So my friend, Awesome Neighbor, and I took her downtown for a walk on plowed sidewalks.  Miss Sassy goes for walks around town with her special class at school, so she is familiar with many of the businesses.  She lights up when she enters some buildings.  Like Murrays.  Hmmmm... I think she has been sneaking out for lunches!  She seems to know the menu.  She pointed to sweet potato fries when asked what she wanted to eat.  I thought I would get to share the fries, but no such luck.  I scored ONE fry....  She cleaned up the fries, ate her half of the burger and most of our salad!  Next time, I'm ordering my OWN fries!

And a bit of sewing!  Any guesses?  Yup... a baby quilt!  Oldest kiddo helped choose the pattern and fabrics.  She loves bright colors and chose a multi-sized star pattern... white for the stars and mostly bright yellows, greens & oranges for the background.  Honestly, I wasn't sold on the colors... but as the first blocks took shape, I LOVE IT!!!!  This promises to be a fun quilt!

Well... there's still a bit of vacation left!  And we have new white stuff still falling!  Time to go play in it!  Have a happy day!