Sunday, October 16, 2011

Fall Beerfest

This past May we hosted our first Beerfest. We had some previous experience with some friends - going to actual local beerfests (research!) and having impromptu gatherings. But in the Spring Leo decided to make a real go of it and it was quite a success. You can't have a Spring one without a Fall one - all those Oktoberfests and Winter Ales! - and so our First Annual Fall Beerfest was born. Some say I am crazy for letting Leo put on such an event while I am pregnant and unable to enjoy all the beer. But our friends are generous as always and other treats were present. Let's just say being able to eat my calories instead of drink them is not such a bad trade-off.

We started around 3:30p and the people piled in from there. It was nice to start early when there was such a beautiful day to enjoy. Our neighbors invested in a bouncy house for their daughter and they were kind enough to share it yesterday. They set it up in the front yard and the kids were soooooo happy. Actually, so were the parents. They all bounced and enjoyed all the garage toys for hours. As usual Nathan was inside and out, enjoying all the people. No worries about him. Except for the potty. I am still fearful of Nathan forgetting or just getting lazy about going but with a little reminder here and there we did well. No accidents!

I enjoy cooking and baking and for party time I usually try to come up with something unique. This time around I decided to make it simple and it was the best way to go. Who doesn't love pasta?! 3lbs later (2 loaves of bread, sausage and peppers and meatballs too), everyone was so happy and I got more compliments that usual. Carbs and beer go together I guess.

The kids begged for a bonfire before it was even dark. Leo bribed then into cleaning up the front yard with promises of a fire in the back. It worked and the yard was cleaned up super fast. Fact: Our playground will withstand the weight of half a dozen small children and two medium-sized adults no problem. The slide was popular among some adults (skirts should not be worn when attempting this). Marshmallows appeared and all were happy. Nathan was having a ball. He looked so tired but he just kept going. I eventually set him up in our bed to watch Cars in hopes he would pass out but he loves a party as much as we do. He said goodnight to our guests with us around 11p. Since he was up, I figured I could go ahead and vacuum up the mess we all dragged in. It was nice not having such a mess to look at in the morning. When I could drink, this never happened - cleaning up right after the party, yeah right. Another upside to not drinking. Always looking for the bright side.

Today we are trying to relax and enjoy Sunday. Relax is not in Nathan's vocabulary. And it's a nice day anyway so out we go I suppose. And working on the Halloween costume. I'll let you see it when it's done. You can tell me if I did a good job. If you think of one for me, let me know. Apparently I have to come up with one for myself too.

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