Summertime party!

We have the family tradition of a big 4th of July party complete with a barbecue, games, prizes and a water balloon fight.  Since we moved into the new house, I’ve been puzzling how we could pull all this off in our tiny back yard.

So in planning for the party, I hunted for games that took a little less space. Pinterest came to my rescue as always, and I settled on a plastic horseshoe game, a ring toss game made with kiddie swimming tubes and pool noodles on stakes, a squirt gun/cup race, and a relay race using kitchen spoons and water balloons.

Also, a BIG bowl of candy to improve teen participation in the kid-games. Here are a few pictures of the festivities.

Thanks to a little breeze, the ring toss and horseshoe games were surprisingly challenging even at close proximity, enough that several adults played for quite awhile.

The teens clustered around the candy bowl. And soaked friends with water toys. And also stole mom’s phone for a selfie or two.

The little ones loved the tub full of water balloons, somehow even managing to resist throwing water balloons until it was time for the ‘big’ water balloon fight.

Below, behind Julianna, you see the cups on string that the kids had fun shooting down the ‘track’ with squirt guns.

And as always, the water balloon fight was the highlight of the party.

See how big my tomatoes are getting there in the background?  Not to mention the kids– it blows my mind that our little grandsons are already FOUR.

Along with the usual family group, several of the teens invited friends, which added to the fun of the party.

Here you see Ascher and Ranger delightedly soaking Daniel with their squirt guns, and John in the background playing horseshoes.

Our little back yard proved very up to the water-party challenge.  We only tossed things over the fence once, and lots of good fun was had by all the participants!