the squibix family blog

Because it was subbing in for Park Day, there were lots of people there: everybody already had the time blocked off on their schedule. Lots of food too, and some it was even healthy! Besides eating, the kids played in the woods or on the climbing structure (or talked in the woods or around the picnic tables, in the case of the older ones). There was karaoke; Harvey sang lots of songs, and I joined him for some Hamilton. And of course the fire was a big draw. Besides the broccoli, people roasted marshmallows, hot dogs, and chocolate, plus incinerating lots of leaves on the ends of the hot dog forks. And before the fire burned down too low I jumped over it, as tradition demands (twice actually, since some people missed it the first time and I crave attention).

So it's winter now... bring on the snow and ice!

The Farm Club party was probably my favorite part of the day. All the more so for being unexpected: I thought we were just going to do get in there with some garden clean-up, but besides that we were treated to an amazing Halloween party complete with pigs in blankets and ants on logs and, most important, doughnuts on strings so we could race to see who could eat them fastest! I didn't win.

Then of course there was lots of candy to gather from a few doors in Bedford and lots more in Chelmsford. It was fun seeing the Bedford crew for a minute but we really enjoyed getting to visit a destination trick-or-treating location in Chelmsford. Lots of the homeowners were out in front of their houses with their candy—combined with all the families out in the streets it felt like a real festival. All our kids got more candy than they needed for sure. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but as far as it goes this one was pretty good!

It was a costume party, but a relaxed one where the guests were in no way obligated to keep their costumes on or act in character. Or even have a real costume; one of Harvey's friend just wore a t-shirt reading "404: costume not found". Harvey ordered an awesome feathered mask and wore his cloak from Halloween a few years ago; he said his costume was "someone at a costume party". Elijah was a white ninja with a face-paint scar. Zion's ninja costume was in the wash so he went as himself. It was all fine.

The kids all played outside for a while, first running around and hitting each other with things (enough of them were warriors of some kind as to make it inevitable) and then they sat down around the picnic table and played Mafia. Harvey had planned a water-balloon activity, with candy prizes, but his friend who was going to bring the balloons thought the party was Sunday so he wasn't there (so much for all the delay to make sure everyone could come!). So they just ate the candy. Then there was the taco lunch, with beef, two kinds of beans, and soy crumbles, plus homemade flour tortillas. And lots of chips.

After lunch they all went and played Smash Bros for a while—not my favorite but definitely something 11-15 year olds can get together on (Elijah and his friend played outside some more). Then there was cake—a yellow cake with lemon buttercream frosting was what Harvey asked for, and he liked the fall-hued zinnias I decorated it with—plus ice cream and also apple pie. The kids had eaten a whole bag of peanut-butter cups at that point, along with a fair number of twix bars and smarties, so I have to say they didn't do the real dessert justice... but on the plus side nobody threw up and we've been enjoying the leftovers since.

It was a good party, to be sure. But maybe not enough to make it up for Harvey for being so late. We should have another one!

We met these friends in the fall—they're part of our park day group—but we've never been to their house. Mainly because it's a million miles away, all the way out west in Dunstable. But that means they have plenty of yard to run and play in, and also that they live near a beautiful meadow where we started the party picking flowers to make into solstice crowns.

Once we all had several armfuls we went to their house, where we sat around a fire and ate for the next six hours or so. Well, I guess we didn't sit the whole time. They have a trampoline and there was a bounce house, so the kids got lots of exercise (I may have taken a bounce or two myself). We helped a stray duck get back into her run. We played some music. I got a little less horrible walking on a slackline. Some of the kids made a seesaw. It was a fun time! Oh, and I jumped over the fire.

In Latvia, we hear, sunset on the solstice is at around 11:30. That's why they need strong solstice traditions, like the crowns and the solstice cheese pictured below. We didn't last that long, but it was still starting to get dark as we finally pulled ourselves away at quarter to nine. Good party! I hope they'll invite us again next year.

The kids started up with batting practice as folks began to arrive, and then chose captains for a game with real sides. Then after a break for drinks and chips—despite my concerns, Leah put the chips out before dinner thinking that kids needed to keep their electrolyte levels up—we reorganized into kids vs adults. Not everyone played, but it was still a good-sized game, and fiercely fought. There were home runs, aggressive—not to say foolhardy—base-running and a triple play that was called back because of a general lack of understanding of the rules of "tagging up". I had to bow out before the end to start to get supper ready, but not before I hit a towering home run into the woods over the shed. Very satisfying! Still, the adult side ended up losing something like 24-12. Those kids were just too good.

For supper we had hamburgers and hot dogs on the fire (plus garden asparagus), along with salad, veggies, and lots and lots of chips (electrolytes!). Adults ate under a tent that Leah bought in the morning, thinking we'd die otherwise under the baking sun. It's the best thing ever, and even though the day cooled slightly as the party got going it was delightful to be gathered under its shade.

As the party entered its fourth hour the kids abandoned organize sports for a more typical game of battling and domination—and, apparently, courtroom trials? I'm not quite sure. The adults were having civilized conversation elsewhere. There was also some bike riding and rollerblading, and Zion built some of his new legos (most of his presents from his friends were legos, which is good because he didn't get any from his family; only sports equipment). The party started at three, and I think everyone was gone by 7:30, but I'm not sure... it was kind of hazy by that point. A good party!

We started off bright and early by heading into church to set up to welcome kids and families with kids to the service. It's been a long time since we did a big service in person, and it showed—but never mind, everybody had so much fun that they didn't mind the occasional issue. There were some new families, and some folks I hadn't seen for a while. And lots of them were dressed up for the occasion... including Elijah!

There was also an egg hunt after church, but I was too busy running it to take any pictures or even pay attention to the kids finding the eggs. But that was alright because after church we went home to a big party with our own egg hunt. Also a fire, a whole bunch of friends, and plenty of food for all of them.

Maybe the balance was a little heavy towards the sweet treats side, but that's ok for a holiday. Everybody seemed pretty happy to be hanging out together, and when a few snowflakes started to fall the kids were especially happy to be able to play inside. There was plenty of outside time too, and at least the cold weather the last few days meant that all the flowers were still hanging on to make a fine show for the holiday. Happy Easter!

Of course, it wasn't all inside. Elijah's biggest hopes and plans were a game of freeze tag at Fawn Lake and a piñata, and neither one of those were really possible to do in our house. The Fawn Lake part was first, and while it felt kind of bad to be leaving our house in downpour by the time we reached the pond—all of seven minutes away—the rain had faded to falling mist. So all the kids were able to have a great time playing tag, and all the grown-ups were able to stand around like grown-ups do, mostly without even needing their umbrellas.

After about an hour Lijah called a halt and we headed home (through another rain squall—good timing!). The birthday boy was so excited about presents that he opened them before lunch. Lunch itself was amazing: all those kids around our table for the first time in two years! Amazingly loud, too. The adults stayed in the other room. Besides the pizza the highlight of the at-home part of the party was smashing the piñata, which we did on the front porch—not because it was particularly wet, but because the thing was so big and heavy I didn't think anything but the ring bolt for the porch swing would be able to hold it up! It survived two rounds of kids whacking it with a plastic bat (though it was looking definitely battered and leaking a fair bit) before Elijah dispatched it with the wooden one.

Then we had cake. At that point it was 1:00, the official end of the party (which had begun at 10:30). We weren't kicking anyone out, though, and I was very gratified that everybody who didn't have somewhere else to go stuck around til almost 3:00. Just like that last birthday, back in 2020! I guess we still know how to throw a party.

Fun and food. There were only three families there, including the hosts, but we all felt like creating a festive atmosphere required plenty of food and drink. I made coleslaw, rolls, and a pecan pie, and also brought crackers and dip. Then there was chili, cornbread, chips with a green enchilada dip, caramel popcorn, chocolate chip cookies, oreos, and candy. Oh, and a bowl of baby carrots. Luckily there was an appropriate amount of alchohol to counter some of the sugar flooding my blood and keep me from exploding; I'm not sure how the kids survived.

Actually, I'm not 100% sure how they spent most of the party. The hosts kept them off screens until 6:30, so they got to participate in a couple card games, but then they vanished into the other room to play on a couple Switches and watch some of the old Avatar show. There was also an air hockey table in there so I guess they had the option to move a little bit if they wanted. Me, I didn't move much unless it was too and from the buffet. I just sat at the table and played games: Pit, Dungeon Mayhem, Spit, Pokemon cards, Root, and Regicide. I lost most of them but that doesn't matter; I was still having a great time!

I knew it was getting late, but I was still surprised when I finally checked the time and saw it was just past 11. Awareness of the hour sent my body into shutdown mode, and I barely managed to collect the boys and say a polite goodbye before stumbling out the door. All three boys had been advocating that we stay up til midnight, so when we got home at 11:30 they felt that we were so close we might as well wait up that last half hour! Plus they wanted to hear stories. I knew, though, that if I didn't get myself into bed instantly I might die, so I declined. Of course, I told them they could stay up as long as they wanted! Tucked in their beds Harvey and Elijah fell instantly to sleep—as did I—but Zion, our king of willpower, held on til the bitter end. Though, as he reported in the morning, he was a little disappointed to miss the precise turning of the year: he looked at his watch at 11:57, then blinked and it was 12:03.

All that excitement was pretty hard on us! We took a walk in the afternoon on New Years Day and Elijah, who began it full of joy and energy, was in a grumpy sulk before we got back to the car. Back at home he unspeakingly ran himself a bath and soaked for a while, then came downstairs in his bathrobe and promptly fell asleep on the couch for two hours. Yes, it was hard work but worthy work: this New Year was properly celebrated.

Which was good because we really appreciated the chance to get warm inside and out. It wasn't super cold—and the ground wasn't covered in a foot of snow like last year—but there was a damp chill in the air and it wasn't weather that would typically encourage people to linger outside. But on this night, linger we did!

At least for a little bit. It was still a school night, after all, for those kids who have to go to school; the solstice isn't as important in the public school curriculum as it is among homeschoolers of our vaguely Waldorf-influenced set. But that was ok, because after everyone left and we finished all the cleanup—which took some time!—the fire had died down enough for us to be able to jump over it. Which three of us did! True, it wasn't really a bonfire any longer, but I think it should still count. Now the sun can come back!