The Breuers: Weekend with Friends

Last weekend we had lots of activities with friends. First, we hosted a happy hour for our Grant Park playgroup on Friday. Our group tries to do them once a month, and it's great way for all the parents to socialize. Lola's school was closed that day for a teacher work day, so I stayed home with her and prepped for the party. We also had Lola's friend Ryn join us for a few hours in the afternoon, since her parents were at a work conference and their sitter had to leave early. They played happily together while I finished up the snacks for the party. People arrived around 5:30, and we had a big crowd - probably 10-15 kids plus their parents. It was really fun. We met some families for the first time, and we also caught up with some that we hadn't seen in a while. The kids ran around the house and played while the adults chatted and had some drinks. Lola was up until the last people left around 8:45, and then she went immediately to sleep.

Saturday evening we were hosting a game night with the Brunes and Edwardses. We try to get together every few months - we let the kids play, have dinner, then put the kids to bed and play games (and drink). Everyone sleeps over, including dogs, so that makes for a rowdy (but fun) time. We spent most of the day slowly preparing for the evening - tidying up, making the dinner, etc. Joseph went to our rental house and did some yard work in the afternoon, while Lola and I went to our neighbor Jenny's house for her annual Easter egg decorating party. They get really into it - they drain the eggs and have so many fancy embellishments for decorating. No simple egg dye there! Lola was a bit young for it, so I just let her paint a few colors of nail polish on an egg and then we socialized for a bit before heading home.

Our friends arrived around 6, and we had a nice Mexican dinner. We let the kids play until around 8, and then we started putting them to bed. It took a little longer than usual, but they were all asleep around 9:30 or so. We decided to play Risk, which none of us had ever played. Joseph had retrieved a very old copy of from our neighbor's trash pile. I was a bit apprehensive because I always assumed it was a really hard game, but it was quite fun. I didn't do so well, but I still enjoyed it. Kat ended up dominating in the end. It took until about 1:30 to finish, at which point we were all ready for bed.

Sunday morning everyone was up around 7 or so. We had breakfast together, and then our friends left. Joseph, Lola, and I went to the park for an Easter egg hunt put on by our friends' church. It was freezing outside, but sunny, so we just bundled up. Lola hunted for eggs with her friend Atticus and got a few stickers and some candy. I don't think she really understood the concept, but she liked holding the basket and picking up the eggs.

The rest of the day we relaxed around the house, trying to recover from our tiring weekend. But it was a very fun weekend!