hosting a neighbourhood party

Two years ago we hosted a street party as a way to connect with other families. The event was a pretty great success. It helps build a sense of community for the little ones, and as a parent, you get to know other families around you.

I had the best intentions to host it again last summer but life got in the way - I was feeling pretty burnt out, and we were in the middle of a kitchen reno - so the street party took a back seat. I decided to host it again this year - and it happened 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately this year, Mother Nature decided to throw us a curve ball and have torrential downpour at 4:01 in the afternoon (The BBQ was set to start at 4pm) which resulted in a flurry of texts to my phone of people asking if it was still going on, and phone calls to our house of neighbours wondering what to do. We said it was cancelled because it was actually thundering - but a few friends made their way over with food. I had thought the event was a bust but all of the sudden others started coming, and coming, and before I knew it our house was getting full and I started to freak. I hadn't prepared our inside of the house for a party (We had a new toilet in the box, in the middle of our dining room!) Thankfully the rain broke and we got everyone outdoors. The head count was lower than we originally planned for - but it was still an awesome event. Many of the tips are the same as the previous event but here are my thoughts this time around... More after the jump!

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