Waterproof

The weather may not have cooperated for my niece's high-school graduation party on Saturday, but the rainy weather didn't dampen the day's fun.  This party featured 4 generations of family, plenty of longtime family friends, and about 20 teenagers who were rarely seen with cell phones in their hands.  That's right--the kids put the phones down and had a good time.

My sister has 3 teenagers of her own to help with party preparations, and they all pitched in on tasks ranging from cake-baking, salad-making, cleaning and moving furniture.  The morning of the party, when the rain started to come down, the decision was made to set up picnic tables inside their attached garage, so the cars moved out and the furniture came in.  The garage became Teen Headquarters, with plenty of soda and snacks to keep everyone happy until the main course was served.  Other guests roamed between the kitchen, living room and enclosed porch, and the more intrepid among the kids even took it outside with wiffle balls, soccer balls and inflatable "belly bumpers" for what amounted to airborne wrestling in the rain.

If you leave a party at my sister and brother-in-law's house hungry, it's your own fault.  Just when we thought we couldn't eat any more, the parade of desserts began, featuring my cousin's special cookies, all manner of homemade baked goods, and two cakes baked from scratch by my niece.  One of those was a birthday cake for me, and those 20 teenagers (most of whom don't know me) loudly serenaded me with the birthday song before dessert was served.

All the little details of great hospitality were taken care of, except the one thing a party host can't control:  the weather.  But good fun with family and friends is definitely waterproof.

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