Welcome to summer party!!

It didn't take a lot of effort. 

It didn't take too much time. 

It didn't cost a fortune.

But man was it ever fun.

The kids got off of the bus on the last day of school this past week and walked up the road to find balloons hanging from the trees on our court and the song "Schools Out For Summer" blaring from mini speakers (*thanks Steph!)....

"Who is the party for?!" they called out to us with smiles on their faces as they saw the sprinkler swaying back and forth...

"For YOU!!" we called back to them as they kept walking towards us..."Go get into your bathing 

suits!!" 

So they raced to get into their suits and tore out to explore the little water stations set up all around the court...because school is out for summer...so a surprise water party just had to be had.




So as other neighbour kids raced towards the court, bathing suits carried by their parents who had the inside scoop ahead of time, and surprised little faces who knew nothing about it...it was just plain fun. Fun to see their excitement. Fun to watch them jump right into a full blown water gun fight. And fun to see that in a matter of a couple of days of prep, you can put together a little neighbourhood party without killing yourself to get it all done.



Because with some yummy treats set out...

some juice boxes ready for the taking...

and a bunch of water activities prepped to go...you've got yourself a party.

They soaked in the warm kiddie pool...



painted with water on our driveway...

sprayed each other with water guns and spray bottles...

tossed water balloons until they burst...

 blew bubbles...

drew pictures with chalk...

explored the water table...

tried to extract those darn little toys stuck in the ice...

and picked up coloured ice cubes with tongues (*made in muffin tins with a bit of food colouring)

These kids let loose...had a full blown water gun fight...ran through the sprinkler, splashed in the kiddie pool and got completely soaking wet.

 And the adults? Well, we just got to enjoy it all as the kids were entertained for literally hours...



So as water balloon tosses were organized on the fly...

finished off by a very serious game of road hockey

 I'd say this little last minute, pull it together quickly, get your parents to come over to hold the baby so you can pull the sprinkler and kiddie pool out the morning of kind of party ended up being a hit--which is really all due to the fun kids who decided that they were just as excited about summer holidays beginning as I was.

BUT...you know what else is exciting about summer beginning? 

My sister, Jeff and my niece and nephew are moving in 2 doors down from us in a couple of days (TWO DOORS DOWN!). In less than a year of us moving here, the stars have aligned and we've got them on our court. I just can't wait. The kids thought it was fun living just a street over from each other in our old house--but now they'll be literally steps away from each other. They'll go to the same schools all the way from elementary school up until high school and they'll be back to seeing each other literally every single day. 

I Just. Can't. Wait. 

Happy summer everyone! 

Go pull the sprinkler out. 

Erica xo