Is it still a success if the neighbors don't call the cops?

All around, it was the best time at a house-cooling party ever. I think everyone would agree. It was our first and so that in itself made it great for us. I didn't let anything taint it. Not the neighbors, not the flies in the garage, not the burn on my fingertips from the insanely hot handle on the bbq lid. It was wonderful.

We had people show up in spurts all night. Some arrived early and stayed late, some hung out for a while and left just as others arrived to fill their place. We planned it so that all the food and such was ready and available from the beginning so the rest of the night we just hung out with our friends and provided guided tours over and over and over again.

I didn't get a ton of photos. But I had to document a few things, of course, and so here's the photos from the evening.

To start things off, here's the new screen door that we built all by ourselves...with a little help from a starter kit from Home Depot.



The Garage/best "great room" ever





No that's not our moped. It belongs to Jo-science. But we're hoping to score one of our own very soon.





And now on to the outdoor space...all set up for partyers







And onto the people that showed up











And then there were the two little girls that just made my day.





How could she resist?





We had this great idea to put floating candles in the "water feature" (yes, I use this term lightly) but, it turns out they made better pieces for a little game we like to call, "Collect the Soap"



As you may be able to deduce. The above shinanigans led to the first baby in our bathtub moment...



Big sister lent a helping hand



And then the best moment of the night happened. The little one's mom had just finished the soaping up stage of the bath and drained all of the water from the tub. Then, right before she turned on the water to refill for the rinse off, my friend came up to the bathroom door. Now imagine walking around the corner and the flash that you initially get when you realize the door's open, but there's someone inside is that your walking in on someone going to the bathroom. But then, instead you see two women and two children crowded into a tiny bathroom. She says with a confused look in her eye, "Oh, sorry, I was just going to go to the bathroom."
To which the mother responds as she motions to the wet, soapy baby in the tub, "Oh you can, as long as you keep an eye on her."
And so, my friend replies, "alright." So the mother, the daughter and I walk out and as my friend walks in and pushes the door shut behind her we hear her say, "Hi, I'm Beth."



And so. The aftermath. We had some friends pitch in last night and carry in all the dishes, and pick up most of the trash. So today we have a clean, organized house. A little bit of picking things up to do in the backyard. And a watermelon juice sticky kitchen floor to mop. All in all, it's not that bad.











Yes we recycle, and no this isn't all from last night. Geesh, what kind of friends do you think we have?




And so, we sit, underneath the umbrella in the backyard. Drinking coffee, writing, and procrastinating everything else.