Dear Reader,
Please excuse the delay in posting. We’ve been having such a full and marvelous time touring the country, that I’ve fallen behind in my blog posts. I thought about skipping a few stories, and coming back to them later, but I just couldn’t do it. I have to do this chronologically, I’m just compulsive that way.
This means that I’m still sharing stories from before we hit the road, including the one about a fabulous end-of-year homeschool party that we attended.
Dreaming of a Pie Fight
AJ had a dream. It was a bold, audacious plan to stage a pie fight. Not just any little old pie fight. No, he wanted a whopper of a pie fight.
His mother also had a dream. She wanted to make her son’s dream come true, but she didn’t want it to end up in a big mess. With a little creativity, and planning, both were able to make their dreams come true.
First, she had to select the right setting for the pie fight. The ideal pie fight scene includes tables for making the pies, lots of room to run around, and access to water for clean up. Grafton Park provided the ideal combination with a secluded pavilion that included a water source, and the lake and showers just a short walk away.
Scoping out sale items, AJ’s mom gathered pudding mix, pie tins, and whipped cream for the pies. She also sent out online invitations asking participants to bring contributions for a potluck picnic and water guns.
On the big day, she used emergency scene tape to cordon off the area for the pie fight, making sure that the mess would be contained in an easy to clean area with tall grass to hide the errant pudding.
She also went over important ground rules with the participants. I’m not sure what she said exactly, but it must have had something to do with keeping the pie fight fun, and within the designated area.
After the pie slinging, a water gun fight was a great way to wash off the bigger globs of pudding pie. It was also a highlight of the party in itself.
For the final rinse, the kids washed up in the showers, took a dip in the lake, or both. Mine went straight from the water gun fight to the lake, and by the end of the day they were cleaner than when we started. Pretty much, anyway.
AJ and his mom achieved their dream, but Alex did as well. He got to attend one of the most creative, fun end-of-school-year parties ever, with new and old homeschool friends. This was definitely the way to welcome the summer with a bang!
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What a great idea! I’ve been trying to plan an Avatar party for my 5-year-old and had gotten as far as squirt guns for “water bending.” Pie bending wasn’t exactly part of the show, but we might be able to work that in.
9to5to9´s last blog post..Charter schools not an automatic cure, research shows
I am soooooo going to do this!
Wow, you travel fast. Are you headed N or S? If you have time make it to Manitou Springs to sample the spings around town and play at the penny arcade.
We’re near Manitou Springs, camping at the Garden of the Gods, but there is so much that we want to do (mountain hikes, gold mine tour, fossil beds), that we’re bypassing the spring waters. Since we live near Saratoga Springs, that’s not much of a loss.
Sandra Foyt´s last blog post..Pie Fight Party: A Homeschooler’s Dream
Sounds like fun! For several years we did shaving cream blowouts in the back yard–each kid (in bathing suits) got a can and they could go wild, followed by a hosing down. They’ve also participated in a Purim whipped cream “pie in the face” booth, both as pie target and pie recipient. Getting messy is good. My mantra (which they can repeat) is “that’s what washing machines are for.”
SwitchedOnMom´s last blog post..Of Mountains and Middle School
I bet my son would love to incorporate that into his birthday water gun blow out!