This is exactly what we had to do for MC Senior’s birthday party a couple of weekends ago. Because we’re in temporary digs without a usable outdoor area, we hoped for the best when we sent out the invitations asking everyone to meet at the nearby beach. As the guests started to arrive, the first drops of rain began to fall and by the time everyone had turned up, the heavens opened up and we were soaked to the skin.
Beach bucket cake with sugar cookie crumb "sand". The rocks and flip flops are built up from cake too.
I madly rushed around grabbing food and anything that needed to be kept dry, while Mr. Kitchen Hand marshalled the girls and started the games we’d planned. As I trudged back and forth to our apartment with the rescued party fare, I heard shrieks of laughter from the happy bunch. There was SO. MUCH. SQUEALING! Unfortunately, it was too wet to take any photos, but take it from me, relay races are infinitely more fun when it’s wet. The beach bag relay turned out to be the clear favourite of the day. (I got the idea from here. We used adult sized board shorts, flip-flops and a hat. They had to run to a finish line, unfurl a beach towel, dress up with the items from the bag, sit on the towel then repack the beach bag and run back to the team).
After the games were over, the sodden bunch made their way to our apartment, towelled off and hit the party food. I have never seen so many cookies disappear so quickly! Then, to make sure we got enough sugar into them, we took the girls up to the ice-cream bar a few doors away and let them choose their own flavours. And just to round off the sugar high, we pulled out cake and jelly :) (In my defense, there were cheese sandwiches and some fruit on offer too, so the major food groups were covered ok?).
Beach ball cookies
Sea shell shaped meringues
Since it was a beachy/ tropical theme, I thought these ham, pineapple and cheese skewers would be fun. Great idea in theory but 9 year old girls just think it's a bit weird. Ah well, I tried.
By this stage, we didn’t care a hoot about how wet it was, so we handed round water squirters and set them loose just outside the front door. Of course, as these things go, this is when the parents started to arrive for pick-up, and the kids took great delight in trying to soak mum or dad (or brothers).
Lolly boxes. I filled these with a few treats including bags of sea glass candy. The pattern for these great boxes can be found here
Obsessive? Moi?
So, if you’re planning a party this weekend, don’t let the weather get you down. It might just turn into one of the most chaotic yet memorable parties you’ve ever had!
Have a great weekend :)
