Mario Party!

One afternoon, after much Super Mario Brothers Wii-heeeeee! Alysa had the brilliant idea to do a Mario Party with Mario/Italian themed food and game playing. 

We all thought it was an awesome idea, since many-a afternoons this summer were spent watching Benjamin and Henry play Mario on the Wii. They did the same levels over and over again, mastering the different skills: walking, jumping, then running (it can be tricky!), then throwing fire balls, smashing the gumbos, swimming, getting on and off yoshis, eating a fellow-player with a yoshi and spitting him back out again--you know, lots of fun (and often frustration!). 

I think I'll remember this summer as one Mario was a big part of. *Sigh*

Well, we turned the party into a Family Home Evening-dinner-Mario party. So, for dinner we had stuffed mushrooms, different pastas and sauces, and star sugar cookies with yellow sprinkles. The mushrooms were especially delicious! We also had balloons for decor.

Mario kept getting away!

And getting away . . . again!

 Mario wasn't too keen on getting photographed.

The night was a little crazy, as you can imagine. There was some intense playing and, man, was it hard to turn off when the time came. We managed to squeeze in a spiritual message before the night was over to make our FHE complete. 

I don't remember what we did to get the kids to wind down afterward, but Alysa reported driving all the way to St. Joe and back, allowing their kids to fall asleep sweetly for an easy transition into beds. Clever girl.

Thanks for the great idea, Alysa, and for an awesome night!