Family New Years Eve Party

This year we decided to try something new for new years eve. Since we all have a limited time left where our children would want to be with us, we invited families. Instead of destroying our house like we've done in years past, we opted to rent a party room at a local Hampton Inn. All the families rented a room there so we were safe and snug for the night. As it happened, we had a GIANT snowstorm that dumped about 12 inches of snow that evening. We were glad that no one risked driving on that dangerous night.

We invited all the families that our kids hang with because we made it BYO everything. The more people that came, the more food and drinks were brought. We figured the more the merrier and ended up with about 15 families. As for the food, there was everything from a ham from pams-hams (of course that was my contribution) to homemade cookies, to cheese and sausage trays to fruit and veggies. It is amazing how those potlucks always work out to have the perfect mix of foods.

One thing I love about new years parties is how cheap and easy they are to decorate. We've done the colorful theme and the silver/gold theme before and had some leftover decorations from both so we just mixed it all together for this one. 50 balloons tied to the backs of chairs and a few dollar store table clothes made the room look festive for all. The throw in the blowers, cheap (6 for a dollar) bead necklaces and popper packs in the middle of the tables and you've got yourself a party. When we had it at our house, we put the balloons in a giant plastic holder (from any party supply) and dropped them from the upstairs bridge at midnight for a festive touch.

The hotel had a pool so that was a big event for the night - especially since it was snowing outside. Linda brought a karaoke machine which ended up being one of the other big hits with the little ones. I think we've all heard enough High School Musical for a while. Connor also brought a guitar and quietly strummed away in the background. It was especially fun when one of the dads started giving him some tips - wow was he talented. Next year we may get dueling guitars! At midnight we watched the ball drop and made big noise and messes with poppers and cheap new years noisemakers.

We joined efforts and had the room cleaned up in a flash (which set a great example for the kids because believe me, those poppers left a mess). I'm not sure what we'll do next year but I would recommend this option to anyone who wants to have a family party without concern for the size of your house.