Murder Mystery, Year Five: Little Italy, New York City, 2009

 This year, we were a dysfunctional, transplanted Italian family, living in 2009 New York City!

I was Mama Rosa, the matriarch of this wild crew. Matt was my Soccer Playing Son, who didn't want to take over the family business. Deb was my daughter who was a little spoiled and very wild. Scott was my husband's twin brother, who still lived in Italy. Jared was the French fiancé of Deb and estate manager of Scott. Jessica was the clairvoyant intertwined with our family. Julianna was the maid turned fiancé of Scott. Billy was the rather opinionated priest from the local church.

After following the weather since the 10-day forecast came out, I was so worried that my outdoor plans would be rained out, but once the rain passed in the morning, we had a beautiful, possibly too sunny afternoon for the party!!!

Our children ranks were greatly diminished this year, as none of the Eaton kids came, and only one each of the Stepp and Prichard kids!  Those that were in attendance had a good time though!

I found the camera that we would have really used back in 2009, and we passed it around during the evening.  We ended up with lots of fun, candid shots!

It was a pleasant evening, especially once the sun was hidden away!  

This year the murderer was: (highlight the text below to reveal the murder!)

*                                                                            Jared!*

I am always so thankful to our guests who play their roles so convincingly every year!  What a fun party!!

later days

You can read about previous murders here:

Year 4: Ancient Rome

Year 3: Hawaii

Year 2: France

Year 1: Mississippi Riverboat

And you can check out some of my pre-party projects here.

March 7th, Emily's 9th Birthday Party

The high today was a sunny,  windy 47F.

This year Emily's birthday was at Zap Zone.  She picked the Trampolines and Laser Tag in addition to arcade time.

I had to pick the cake on my own, but felt fairly confident since she chose unicorns as her number one pick for her school cupcakes. = )

I didn't end up taking many pictures of them jumping, and only managed a few that weren't solid blurs.  Since I was planning on playing laser tag, and was unsure of the locker situation, I didn't bring my big camera, so all of my pictures were taken with my phone.

After jumping we returned to the room for pizza!

It didn't take long to eat, and then it was off to laser tag!  Billy, Avia, Scott and I all played too so we did adults versus kids.

There were two other participants (a dad and his boy) who played on the adult team.  The adults won, by quite a bit.  But it was really fun for everyone. = )  I labelled all the players that I could remember, or ask.

After laser tag we dashed back to the room, but had to eat the cake in a mad dash (and tiny pieces,) because they had a party coming in right after us!

We claimed another table so that the kids could spend their tokens, since we hadn't really had any time since the start of the party!

Everyone took a little something home, and sadly we left with way more cake than usual, but I think everyone enjoyed the party!

Emily had to open her gifts at home, and was delighted with everything.  Her doll Coral is now well outfitted! ; )  She even started writing her thank yous!

Grace was invited to spend the night with Avia at Aunt Rocky's, since Juliet had the night before.  This messed with our usual Friday night shot schedule, so we were waiting for Saturday.  Once I realized that I'd missed Grace's shot, I called my mom to meet up.  On my way home, I stopped and picked up Wendy's for dinner.

We attempted to go to bed "early" in anticipation of the time change, and woke up a little early, but Monday is still going to be tough.

later days

You can see her birthday invitations here.
And her party from last year here.

Viking Fest!

The final weekend in February is the Nordic Fire Festival in Charlotte.  It has been a cold, snowy February,  and today's weather was finally calm enough to brave the above freezing temperatures!

Just like last year, we parked at the high school & hopped on the shuttle.  There was a bit of a line when we arrived, but we were done in no time!

We met up with the Pritchards, who had already arrived.  (Grace was so excited, she didn't want her picture in the Viking cutout above.)

We ventured inside after viewing the Viking settlement recreation.  They were serving up hot chocolate and had games and crafts set up for all of the kids to enjoy.

Hay was a welcome floor cover inside, since the ground outside is currently a mixture of snow that has melted into ice, mud and water.  The kids entertained themselves while waiting for a turn at the face painting station.

The artist this year had some fancy jeweled designs for the kids to choose!

As they finished up, they paid a visit to the Viking on stilts for some extravagant, portable balloon art.

From here most of the group headed out to enjoy some physical activities.  I waited for Alice to finish her art, and then we went to collect some of our all time favorite candle scent, but they sold out of them yesterday night. = (

We grabbed some food, and met up with the others.  Since my hands were full, I didn't get a single picture of the sword fights this year. We were pretty worn out at this point, so we sat down to eat, then headed in for one more craft.

As we were leaving the line to attend was at least 20 minutes deep!

There were more vendors and exhibits than last year, and even more patrons.  I'm so happy to see them grow, and already excited to go visit next year!

later days