Celebrating the Summer Games
We have a family tradition of throwing together a viewing party for the opening ceremony of the summer games. It’s usually just our little family of 4, sitting in the living room with TV trays, eating food from the host country. It’s usually very low production value but so much fun to make it a whole experience! Depending on the time difference, sometimes we just watch a recording, rather than live, which has its advantages because, to be honest, some of it can get a bit boring to watch for kids.
When I realized the Paris Summer Games opening ceremony this year would air at 1:30 on Friday, July 26th, the timing felt too perfect to skip on an opportunity to expand on our tradition and host a real viewing party and invite some of our favorite family friends to attend.
I usually write about parties after they’ve happened, but this time, I wanted to share some ideas so you too can host a viewing party! Here’s my plan so far:
Theme: Picnic in Paris
Our guests will be invited to bring a blanket and a picnic to our backyard where we will have a big screen set up for the viewing.
What We’ll Serve:
Although guests are bringing picnics, I’m planning to serve some Parisian desserts to enjoy after their lunches.
- Madeleines
- Chocolate Croissants
- Macarons
- Eclairs
- Crème Brûlée
- Crepe Bar – this will be a built-in activity since guests can try making their crepes.
It sounds like a lot, but everything will be in miniature form so just a sweet taste of Paris!
Decor:
This is my favorite part! If it’s a birthday or “real” holiday, I give myself total freedom to go crazy. For random occasions like this, I try my best to keep it reasonable. But reasonable certainly doesn’t have to mean boring. Here’s what I’m thinking:
- Bakery stands for all the sweets: years ago, my daughters and I built a stand for a doggie bakery stand to raise money for a local shelter. Since then, it has had many incarnations…who knew it would be so versatile?! It’s been painted more times than I can count and has been perfect for so many parties! This time, I plan to paint the awning black and white stripes. I’ll add some pink lining to the shelves and some pink flowers. I may also set up a small pink table next to it for some added real estate and maybe a balloon garland.
- Giant Eiffel Tower: if I can get my hands on some giant piece of cardboard, I would love to create a giant Eiffel Tower that we can use for a photo backdrop. If not, I’ll make a small Eiffel Tower that can sit on the little pink table, or order one online.
Entertainment:
Our guest list is made up of family friends who live in our neighborhood. We spend practically every day together in the summer. One of the things we love to do is family game night. It will be just moms and kids for the picnic (we’re all SAHMs or teachers) but dads will come later in the afternoon, right around the time the Opening Ceremonies are ending. That’s when we will begin Family Summer games. The details of the games will have to be a separate post but think field day games.
Be sure to check back to see my party come to life. In the meantime, plan your own and tag me @sandracelebrates! I’d love to see what you come up with for your very own viewing party, simple or elaborate!
