Planning for 4th of July Works for Me

Planning ahead works for me. From my post yesterday, you'll read that I hosted nine people in our little 3 bedroom/ 1 bath 1,000 sq ft home for the holiday weekend. It was quite a feat and at times leading up to it, I wasn't sure we could pull it off. But it ended up working out well and was actually enjoyable at times. But it didn't come without some planning. These are just a few of the things we planned to make the weekend work:

Food:
I planned out several meals ahead of time. Not only did I plan our meals, but I also make some of the items ahead. We did simple lunches, one of which was egg salad sandwiches and fruit. Eggs can easily be boiled ahead and made into the spread. Yummy, economical, and time efficient. Besides egg salad, I also made ice cream, cake, and waffle batter. Waffles on Saturday morning where a huge hit and so easy as it was made ahead. To make this meal even easier, I could have cooked the waffles ahead and stuck them in the freezer for reheating. But I wasn't quite that organized. Other easy prep meals include: baked spaghetti, pizza dough, cookie dough, etc.

Sleeping arrangements:
Our house was a little expanded as my in-laws brought their small trailer with them. So they and my sister-in-law slept out there. We had planned to put Baby Girl in the portacrib in Big Boy's room and put my brother and sister-in-law on an air mattress in her room. They decided to be adventurous and sleep on the trampoline, but still the plan was in place to house them.

Activities:
A lot of the time we just go with the flow. However, it can get complicated when no one wants to make a decision, which some time happens. So we did a little planning for that area as well. We knew we'd have some time on Saturday morning and afternoon as we all waited for the fireworks, as well as some time on Sunday afternoon. We broke out the board game and actually had a really good time. We spent several hours playing Taboo and Sequence. Additionally, since it was a holiday weekend, we had purposefully planned on eating at the Convention Center and going to the fireworks on the 4th.

So all in all it was a full weekend, but went so much smoother with a few preparations and some thinking ahead.

Planning... definately Works For Me.

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