Summer comes and goes way too quickly here in Michigan. My daughter asked me today if summer was over now (sweet thing, it just officially began on Friday!)

On my mission to live life to the fullest (even while pregnant and tired), I have been having friends over for parties. I wanted to put it on the blog because it’s been a ton of fun and it’s pretty simple to pull together.

The menu:

Chicken salad with croissants for the mamas

Mixed salad for the mamas

PB & J sandwiches for the kids

Ham & Turkey roll-ups for the kids

Yogurt tubes (keep them frozen and they are a perfect treat in the summer heat)

Fruit

Juice Boxes

Dessert

Pop, water and lemonade for the mamas

*Goldfish in baggies (my friend gave me this idea) for snacks. Less mess and easier to dish out because they are already seperated.

The fun:

sprinklers

swimming

watercolor painting-I hang large sheets of white paper on our fence and let the kids have at it!

pudding painting-similar to above because I hang the large white paper then make several colors of jello for the kids to use to paint with. They ended up getting crazy and painting themselves! It was so much fun!

bubbles

sidewalk chalk

outdoor toys

books and a picnic blanket

sandbox

shower caps, shaving cream and cheese puffs (these are for my next gathering) See the idea here at Pinterest.

The favors:

Thank you Pinterest!

Orange bags

orange summer cups (I love a good summer cup for drinking ice cold water)

popsicles

sand toys

bubbles

summer coloring pages

(everything from the dollar store)

Ready? Now get out there and start making some memories with your children that will last a lifetime!