Splash Into Spring - A Family Dance Party

Back in April, something really fun happened - the Primary hosted a family dance for our ward.  For those of you who don't speak the Mormon lingo fluently, the "Primary" is the name of our children's organizations, and "ward" is what we call our congregations.  I am currently our ward Primary President, and so along with my counselors and secretary, our families, and some help from other talented friends, we hosted a really fun afternoon of dancing and games for our ward families and friends.

Now, I'm a firm believer in good documentation, detailed notes, sharing success stories, and NOT reinventing the wheel, so if you are also a person who likes to host dance parties or if you are a Mormon who may in the future be asked to plan an event, this post may be your ticket to happiness in the form of my notes for a successful family dance party.  And if you're not any of those things, this post may just be long and wretched and painful.  Consider this a warning.  (And I will not for a second be offended if you skim through the photos and go back to watching cat videos on youtube).

If you are still reading, this was our recipe for a fun family dance party.

Step #1: Set the date, get it on the calendar, determine a theme and recruit someone very talented to help with the decor.  As a Primary presidency we came up with the "Splash into Spring" theme, we thought of general ideas to pull the theme together without going crazy with our budget (umbrellas? galoshes? raindrops? balloons for clouds?) and then we asked our very talented artist friend Guenieve if she would help us as our sort of design guru.  She worked with the supplies we had, bought a few additional things to finish the effect, and it was perfect - simple and quite adorable.  Does your church gym have those mauve panels left over from the 90s up on the walls?  Yeah, ours does too, but with minimal fuss Guenieve transformed those puppies into something hip and happening.

Step #2: Even more powerful than my firm belief in not reinventing the wheel is my belief in the absolute necessity of advertising.  What is the sense in putting energy into an event that is not well advertised and doesn't draw a crowd?  So, I send an initial Save the Date email to our ward listserv four or so weeks in advance of the event, two or three weeks prior to the event I put flyers on the bulletin boards around the church, the week before the dance I put small flyer inserts in each of the Sacrament programs, we talked it up in Primary to the kids for weeks, and two days before the event I sent out a reminder email to our entire ward listserv.  All of the advertising focused on the event being fun for all members of the ward, I advertised that there would be treats and games, and that it would be perfect to invite friends to.  Yes, advertising required a bit of effort and I used some of our budget to make nice flyers at Kinkos, but I looked through our photos after the dance and counted all of the people who showed up for our event, and including children and babies, there were 120 people in attendance, which is pretty great for us.  Good, upbeat advertising is worth every expense.

Step #3: So AH!  Now that you've talked it up, and made sure the space is going to look great even with a lean budget, how do you make sure that the dance is actually FUN, and not a big flop?  That's a really good question.  There are just a few elements to consider.

First and foremost, think about who would be a good MC for the dance.  This person's job is not only to welcome everyone and organize an opening and closing prayer, but this person has to inspire excitement at an event that honestly inspires dread in so many people.  I've been around for a few years and have made some friends and I'm pretty sure most of our ward came just because they wanted to support me and my Presidency and this event we had planned.  But afterwards I got the feedback that even though dances can go a few different directions - especially family dances that cater to a wide demographic - ours had been so much fun.  Your MC needs to be someone who will make everyone feel like they just arrived in Disney World, but in a non-obnoxious way.  Your MC will also lead the games, so they should walk through the details in their head and be comfortable with what they need to announce.  They also need to know technical things like how to pause the music and restart it, which is required of some of the games I will list.

Our approach from the beginning was to make sure that the dance was a good combination of "free dance" songs, and "game" songs.  I searched the internet for all dance party games, and pulled out the ones that would work best for our group, and this is what our final music line up looked like:

We started this music at 2:50pm to welcome early birds (the event started at 3pm).

- Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus – 3:22

- Keep your Head Up – Andy Grammer – 3:10

- On Top of the World – Imagine Dragons – 3:10

- I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown – 2:46

- ABC – Jackson 5 – 2:57

The MC (me) welcomed everyone and we had an opening prayer at 3:05, and then we started our main playlist.

- Happy – Pharrell Williams – 3:53

- The Twist – Chubby Checker – 2:39

- Black or White – Michael Jackson – 3:19

- What Makes you Beautiful – One Direction – 3:18

- Limbo Rock – Chubby Checker – 2:25 (During this song we pulled out broom sticks and did a very fun limbo dance-off)

- Say (hey) I love you - Michael Franti & Spearhead – 3:56 (During this song we played the Bear Hug Game.  At random points in the song I paused the music and yelled out a number, and the dancers had to run and cluster in bear hugs with the number of people that I had called out)

- The Way I am – Ingrid Michaelson – 2:15 (This one I announced as a couples dance, so most of the kids went to get cookies while their parents danced - such a sweet, short song, and not too cheesy)

- Waka Waka – Shakira – 3:23

- Barbara Ann – The Beach Boys – 2:13 (I secretly don't like The Beach Boys music at all, but this number is really upbeat, so we used it as a chance to play our balloon pop game.  I brought out three huge trash bags full of blown-up balloons, and dumped them all over the dance floor.  The kids jumped on them to pop them all, and inside of each was a small paper.  Printed on three of the papers was the word "prize" and the kids who popped those balloons came up to claim a little prize).

- Clean Up Song - Barney - :33 (Um, Marcos' idea.  Hilarious.  The clean up song came on, and the kids picked up all of the balloon bits before we moved on with the party).

- September – Earth, Wind, Fire – 3:35

- Let there be Love – Nat King Cole - 2:47 (I announced this one as a Daddy/Daughter, Mommy/Son dance.  Totally sweet song that is vague enough to be about filial love!)

- Jump in the Line – Harry Belafonte – 3:45

- Celebration – Kool and the Gang – 3:36 (During this song we did the Snowball Dance Game.  I picked a couple to start dancing alone in the middle of the floor, and a little ways into the song I said "snowball!" and they split and pulled two new people onto the floor, then I said "snowball!" again and they all split and grabbed a new partner onto the dance floor.  We repeated the game until the song was over and the floor was covered with dancers).

- YMCA – The Village People – 4:41

- The Way You Look Tonight – Michael Buble 4:38

- Do you Love Me? – The Contours – 2:55

I then thanked everyone for coming and we said a closing prayer, after which we continued with our clean up party playlist!

- Let it Go – Frozen – 2:05 (This is when some real magic happened.  There was a general sense of exhilaration in the air and we were all tired and happy after a fun dance, but instead of fizzling out, it just got better.  As the adults started cleaning up, taking down decorations, sweeping, etc. some of the kids came up and wanted to sing into the microphone along with the songs from Frozen that were playing over the speakers.  So, we had a cute line up of girls and boys who belted it out into that microphone along to our cleaning party).

- Marry You – Bruno Mars – 3:50

- New Soul – Yael Naim – 3:45

- Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show – 3:52

- It’s My Party – Leslie Gore – 2:16

- Closing Time – Semisonic – 4:34

And that was our general line-up.  If you do a dance party and want to use this playlist you are more than welcome to it.  If you want to change some songs you are of course very welcome to tailor your playlist to your group, but I have one word of advice: when you are thinking about putting in a new song, play it in your living room and have a few people dance to it right then and there.  Marcos and I have made a few playlists for dances since we've been married, and we've found that there are some great songs that are terrible for a dance party.  You want to find either a good fast-paced ditty that will keep you moving, or a specifically slow song.  The in-between tempo becomes really dull to dance to, unless it is an iconic song like YMCA that everyone knows and has actions for.  You'll notice that our favorite mid-tempo songs fell into the "clean up party" list after the dance was over, because by then the music was mainly for background enjoyment.

And here are a few more details, in case some day down the road I want to replicate this event in a new setting:

When?  Saturday afternoon, 3:00 to 4:30pm.  After naps, and before meal time.

Budget?  $100, although we used more like $120 because I really wanted good quality flyers for our advertising.  We spent about $60 - $70 on all sorts - but mainly chocolate varieties - of cookies and drinks (that's ALL we served - so simple) and there were exactly 2 cookies left over at the end, we spent about $20-$30 on decor, and another $20 or so on copies of big flyers and small inserts for Sacrament Meeting programs.  

Set up?  In preparation for the dance we had a balloon blowing party the night before to prep for the balloon pop game as well as the "cloud" balloons that were part of the decor, and we met at noon on the day of the dance to put up the decorations, set up the big semi-circle of chairs, set up the AV and arrange the refreshment tables how we wanted them.  

And I think that's it!  If you're still with me, you deserve a prize.  Enjoy!

A Very Aussie Easter

This post is part of the endless-adventures-of-March series and it has been ripening for a long time.  Sometimes I have so many photos of a small window of my life that I become frozen and have a hard time tackling the project.  But it's time for the story to go public.

So here you have it.  It was the last weekend in March, and we celebrated Easter with our Aussie friends who were stopping by on their epic tour of the United States.  Let's be frank - our little town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina was just not going to compete with their prior three destinations of LA, New York City, and Washington DC so we did what we could with what we had to work with - some good Easter family time in a little town with really nothing very remarkable about it at all.

The week before Easter, I channeled my love of all things Waldorf and sprouted and planted Easter wheat grass.

...and on Friday night they arrived.  But before we get lost in Easter Egg Hunts, I should back up and give you a little intro.  Our visitors were Pete, Mel and their 2-year old boy William, and Mel's brother Sim.  Pete was Marcos' companion in Tokyo where they served as volunteer missionaries for our church, and Mel and I were friends from the MTC, where we chatted during gym hour a few times a week (they later met in Australia and married, after we had known them separately).  Although we had hit it off really well when we met, and have kept up off and on over the past ten years, the week before they arrived I had a moment of panic: what if it's awkward?  What if we all dislike each other?  What if we have all changed in the past ten years and have nothing in common?

But there was no need to have worried for a second.  It was such a lovely weekend.  We wish they were our neighbors, or maybe even family members.  We miss them.

Here are Pete, William and Mel.  On Friday night they drove in with Sim from DC, and after dinner we enjoyed catching up on ten years of not seeing each other.  On Saturday morning they joined us for an Easter Egg Hunt and potluck breakfast at the church.  At breakfast I introduced Mel to my actress friend Rebekah, and she immediately pulled out the most unreal Australian accent and carried the entire conversation in Aussie English.  It still makes me laugh just thinking about it.  I remember the time I went to England when I was twelve years old, and tried to keep up a British accent for the two weeks I was there.  (It was not a very popular idea).  But Rebekah was truly amazing.  Truly.

After the kiddos had hunted a good little bundle of eggs, I made the mistake of telling Gigi that there were treats inside of them.  Her entire world stopped, and she immediately sat down to enjoy her spoils.

Despite all of the running around we managed to catch a few family photos, a photo with Mel, and of lovey boy William.

Since we were practically on UNC campus, we took our friends for a tour.  We started in the UNC Botanical Gardens...

...found spring springing in McCorkle Place...

...and drank good luck water at the Old Well.  This well used to be the water source for all of Chapel Hill, and its outline is now the logo for all things University of North Carolina.  There you have it: the most important, exciting landmark in Chapel Hill.  

That night, we took a turn hosting dinner for our Raleigh friends dinner group, and after we stuffed ourselves on Kim's world famous spaghetti, Mel lead us in the Tim Tam Slam.  She, Pete and Sim had brought an entire suitcase full of Australian chocolate to share with friends over their one-month stay in the states.  They put out an assortment of fun size chocolate bars on the table, and it was like Heaven in a chocolate sampler.  And then it was time for the Tim Tam Slam.

"Here's how it goes.  First you take a small bites off the cookie in opposite corners.

Then dunk the cookie into the hot cocoa...

...and drink the hot cocoa through the cookie like a straw until it gets soft. 

Then stuff the entire thing in your mouth!"  

Don't you love this photo of our little friend Kinsey doing the Tim Tam Slam for the first time, with Jason giving instructions and Kim holding her hair back?  I like to think that they must have a photo like this in every scapbook in Australia, of children and their first Tim Tam, like a rite of passage into true Australian childhood.  Good on ya, Mate.

What a happy evening we spent together.  So many enjoyable people.

The next morning was Easter Sunday and along with our Aussie friends, we invited our friends Angie and Ryan and their son Liam over for simple Easter brunch and an Easter Egg Hunt.  We decided to reuse the plastic Easter Eggs from the day before, but we no longer cared about stuffing them, so some were hidden with chocolates and some were not.  Gigi was clever this time and shook the eggs to see if they rattled, before putting them into her basket.  The empty ones went back into the grass, where the younger boys happily found them.  She is definitely her mother's girl.  No chocolate?  No bother.

Sweet Liam was most excited about our neighbor's toy car.  Below, William shows Uncle Sim his loot.

That Sunday was Easter Sunday.  Although we were very busy hosting and eating, and spending time with friends, during our quiet moments I had many opportunities to talk with Gigi about the meaning of Easter.  It is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and of the hope of living as families beyond these few years that we share together.  As a family that has recently lost loved ones, this part of our faith has become especially meaningful to us.  Easter informs how we approach death and it can very much inform how we approach life.

Monday morning was beautiful.  It was our last full day with Pete, Mel, Sim and William, and so we started out playing at the park...

...and made our way to La Vaquita - our favorite Durham taqueria - for lunch.  Our friends pointed out that in Australia they really do not get amazing Mexican food, so we drove the stretch to Durham because this place is really just that good.  After lunch we visited the Tienda next door and picked from the most amazing assortment of Mexican popsicles - every flavor you can think of, including rose and tamarind.  Here's Sim.

And Pete, and Mel and Will trying the Mexican soda.

On Sunday night my mom had returned from her travels to Nebraska with my Uncle John, and they joined us for the park and lunch that day as well.  

That final night of their visit I went out for a late dinner with Mel, Pete and Sim.  The kiddos were asleep while Marcos worked at home, and I loved having adult time out to relax and talk on their last evening in North Carolina.  These friends are the perfect mix of fun and funny, so easy to be around, insightful and thoughtful, and generous.  We are so glad that they scheduled us into their epic American journey.  Come back soon!

Orion's Blessing Day

In our church we don't baptize babies, but we do give them baby blessings, to launch them forth with a good start in life.  This past week Sunday we blessed baby Orion, and it was pretty perfect.  Orion was happy and content throughout the blessing, and Marcos was joined by 21 men who are close to our family, who channeled their love and affection, power and blessings to our son, to add to the love, affection, power and blessings that I channel to him every day.

I love these photos of Orion in his blessing outfit, which my lovely Aunt Katy sent when he was born.  He is so nibbleable in his Hanna Andersson stripes.  After the blessing we had lunch with our out-of-town friends who had driven a stretch to be here for Orion's special day: My Tutu's dinner-in-one casserole, breads, salads and the most amazing desserts that our friends brought to share.  The clubhouse we rented for the occasion had small dining tables, and in the middle of each one we placed jars of vibrant tulips decorated with ribbons and rocks.  The lunch was calm, peaceful and a great time to catch up with friends and enjoy good food.  I'm left to describing the event because we took a grand total of zero photos.  But I stopped beating myself up for that mistake a long time ago, so moving on.  

And finally, the blessing.  I won't include a word-for-word version here, but these are some of the highlights:

• Orion was given the name of Marcos in honor and memory of his grandfather.  He was blessed to live a life of integrity like his grandfather did - a life of truth and honesty in all his doings.
• Orion was blessed to be serviceable like his grandfather - to see the needs of others and act to fulfill those needs.
• Orion was given the name of Orion as a symbol of our (Marcos and my) love.  He was blessed that our love may guide him surely, like the stars in the heavens.
• Orion was blessed with the courage to defend righteousness and to do always was is right in his heart.
• Orion was blessed to follow the example of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and to be a peacekeeper.
• Orion was blessed to remember his grandmothers and their devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Orion was blessed to be happy.

A baby blessing is a simple thing, but it is so beautiful.  In preparation for Orion's blessing, I talked with Gigi about what was going to happen, and she asked if she could have a "big girl" blessing.  I thought, why not?, so the next day we found Gigi's baby blessing from July 25th of 2010, and Marcos read it word for word as he blessed her again with all of the things he had felt moved to say the first time.  It was meaningful to review her blessing and see how much she's grown into the beautiful girl we were hoping she would become.  We hope that Orion's blessing will be a guide to him throughout his life as well.