Fall Fest 2010

About a month ago, we decided to have a C-man Fall Fest.  C-man's birthday is in March, which stinks weatherwise, so never gets a proper party, and How to Train Your Dragon was releasing on the 15th.

September was so cold, that we got a bit worried.  But as the weeks got closer, we were blessed with beautiful weather.  So we got to work to make the first annual fall fest a success.

After the food was prepped, Beerman brought home a 20x20 tent.  Since the instructions for assembly included a mere 4 bullet points that weren't really that descriptive, we channelled our inner-carnie and started on our merry way.  Seriously, how hard could this be if they only gave us a scant 4 bullet points?

A couple of hours and a few invented swear words later, after I pretended to be an elephant pulling up the tent, and the tent was still mostly on the ground or swaying precariously in the air, we felt pretty stupid.  But eventually, we got it right.

The guests arrived right on time. The kids feverishly went to work decorating their paper shields I had ready for them. (They were so enthralled with the shields, they never got to see my dragon puppet craft, which while a lot of work to prepare, was okay, because it sort of looked like a cross between a dragon and a bat).  They donned their viking helmets and fought a few epic battles with the spare viking helmet horns in the back yard, only returning for more staples when their shields got damaged or to replaces a sticker, picture or other adornment that fell off in the heat of it all.  (Somehow, they'd invented a game of  beating the crap out of one another with plastic horns and their paper shields. I guess my decision to not buy swords was a solid one!)

Then the little vikings put their weapons down to come in and eat too much.  We had fruit and veggies and chips and cheese.  We had a giant pan of homemade mac and cheese, delicious beef barley soup, smoked ham for sandwiches and beef hot dogs of varying degrees of burned pallor.  We had chocolate chocolate-chip cookies and jigglers and pumpkin bars.  Even after pushing food at everyone over and over, there was still an obscene amount of food left over to feed a small village.  (Pretty sure we're not cooking for a few days, but living off the leftovers!)

And then we wisked the tables aside and watched How to Train Your Dragon with tasty popcorn under the propane heaters.

The movie was over promptly at 8:30 as promised.  And instead of anyone leaving, the kids resumed racing around the backyard and beating the hell out of one another in the dark with their shields and horns for another half-hour.  (Those kids have to be bruised, but there were few complaints!)

I think it's safe to say, all the hard work was worthwhile as the party was completely over-the-top good.  Every kid, regardless of age, was grinning ear to ear and thanking us (un-prompted by the parents) for such a great time.  Full bellies, crafts, racing around through the backyard playing viking with individualized shields, and a fun movie... but whew, I'm exhausted.