Let the Games Begin!

On Wednesday, the Mia Maids put together an activity aptly named Family Fun Night (because we have a small group of young women, all three classes meet together.) The girls were to bring a member of their family; be it a parent, sibling, grandparent or aunt/uncle - it didn't matter. And along with their important family member, they were to make & bring that person's favorite dessert to share with the group.

I must admit that this was a lot of work to pull off. Fortunately, I was able to pick up my two lovely Mia Maids early that night so that we could transform the room into a pink & black wonder; we blew up about 60 balloons which covered the floor, festooned the chalkboards with crepe paper strands and spread out plastic tablecloths on our game & food tables. For this particular activity, the dollar store was totally my friend. One of the ladies from our ward was in the building that night and she popped her head in to say that it looked like a 1950s sock hop. Not exactly the look we were going for, but it worked for us.

The night started with an ice breaker game that I played back in my single ward days. Each person grabbed a bunch of M&Ms (or other brightly colored candies) and was then given a "decoder" - which assigned a topic for each color of candy. Around the room we went, answering random trivia about ourselves; my chosen topic involved sharing an embarrassing moment which I wrote about in this blog earlier this year. Now I have no need to fear that the girls think I'm silly - the story I shared pretty much backs that up.

At that point, the attendees broke up into groups of two families because this was when the fun stuff really started. In no particular order here are the silly, and sometimes hilarious, games we played:

• Shave N' Paint - YW shave the face or leg of their family member with shaving cream & popsicle sticks. Then, the roles reverse with the girls receiving painted nails in outrageous colors of pumpkin orange or sparkly pea green. That was awesome.


• This Blows - Each person grabbed a piece of gum (the really hard kind that comes in a large bag and loses its flavor quickly) and had to chew until they can blow a bubble. Then they had to repeat it two more times. This was tough on the jaw, but funny to watch people's faces turn reddish purple as they tried to eek out tiny bubbles with half-chewed, rock hard gum.


• Etch A Sketch - Drawing has never been so fun when you try to put onto paper the face of a loved one. It also showed us who could totally snag a job as a Disney Imagineer - seriously. Plus, the portraits typically included funny commentary.


• Puzzle Mania - Disney Princesses & Strawberry Shortcake puzzles, with 63 pieces respectively, seemed like a cakewalk. Apparently, this was the toughest competition because it took forever to complete those darn kiddie puzzles.


• Chubby Bunny - If you have never played or seen this in action, try it with your family, spouse or whoever needs a good laugh. Tears were streaming down my face while I tried to capture the hilarity in action. Two dads even duked it out - both had 11 jumbo marshmallow in their mouth, with one attempting to stuff a 12th, to no avail.

After the games, everyone feasted on lemon bars, Muddy Buddies, and a table full of other goodies. We ended the night with everyone grabbing a giftbag of treats - as if any of us needed any more sugar! Sugar, Family & Fun - what more can you ask for?

(I will add more pictures once my computer starts behaving nicely.)