Things to Do - Summer Solsticing

Throughout my childhood, I (somewhat superstitiously) believed that the way one celebrated the last day of school dictated the entire summer's awesomeness.

I always hated the feeling, after weeks' worth of of excitement centered on the last day of school, that all of a sudden everything ends. A quiet house. Confusion on what came next. The realization that you would suddenly miss people who up to this point you'd taken for granted you would see every day.

Anyways, I don't think our summer solstice celebration resulted directly from childhood superstitions, but there is something wonderful about heralding in the beginning of a season. Good friends. LOTS of good friends. A keg. Snow cones. Multiple bounce houses. Water balloons and a hose. All of a sudden the long nights feel full of possibility. No ends, only beginnings.

I was too busy hosting to spend much time on photos, lucky, my friend Hector borrowed my camera for an hour or so and captured the fabulous shots posted above.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!! (And, yes, I know the solstice is already old news, but everything moves slower in summer, including, but not limited to, blogging motivation).



Happy the dog really knows how to terrify a toddler. This is also a great example of why REAL firearms should be locked away at all times.

Things to Do - Solsticing & Cherish This Day

I can't remember how/when we first came up with the idea of biannual solstice celebrations. I foggily remember reading that if you raise your children without any religious doctrines then you should try to establish some sort of family tradition or celebration. And the solstice just made sense, as both the winter and summer versions occur right before school vacations. So we went with it.

Our first solstice party was a small affair, but over the years the party became bigger and bigger. So this summer we decided to go "all out" - we obtained a permit to close down the block and provided 2 bounce houses (one for big kids, one for little kids), face painting, and balloon animals (which, luckily, can all be rented for reasonable prices through Arlington County's TEAM program). A friend brought a snow cone maker and tables (we REALLY needed the tables). We bought kegs and juice boxes. Dan made gumbo. And everyone else provided lots of other alcohol, apps, desserts (it really does take a village).

And I think we all had a pretty good time (or so I'd like to believe). Anyways, I didn't have time to take many photos, but here are a few moments I managed to capture.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!! I HOPE YOUR SUMMERS ARE ALL OFF TO A GREAT START!! Now click on over to Cherish This Day for your weekly dose of amazing.

Things to Do - Celebrate the Solstice

I'm not sure why the solstice has become such a big event for me. In part because the more I learn about the history of the holiday, the more in awe I am of how many traditions have survived in modern times - such as lighting candles and decorating with evergreen . Further, Christmas with children comes with a lot of pressure (the big man in the red suit) and the solstice presents a nice opportunity to forget about Santa for day.

After the pinata debacle in October (click here for backstory), I promised F a special playdate with a new, full pinata and the solstice served as the perfect opportunity for such an event. Due to the small size of our house, we needed to keep the guest list pretty tiny. For the kids, I had crackers and masks and noisemakers. Plus, cupcakes for decorating and a pinata for attacking. For the moms, I had wine. Yum. Not exactly traditinal fare, but all in all a good afternoon. There's something sort of exciting about a lone butterfly soaring through winter's naked trees.


I learned an important lesson - don't bake red velvet cupcakes with children. The red dye gets EVERYWHERE.


Another important lesson, if you plan on taking pictures of children with a pinata, it's best to use bags that don't say Safeway and Target. For aesthetics.



The kids loved the masks, they created an afternoon of superheros. I also bought Window Mega Markers, so all the kids could participate in "decorating" the house. One week later, I still haven't erased everything.