Dutch Oven Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Dutch oven chocolate chip cookies for your family reunion.

If you want to be the post popular person at your family reunion, mix up a batch of these Dutch oven chocolate chip cookies. You may even be able to pull S’more cookers away from the campfire to eat one of these delicious warm cookies.

Cookies baked in a Dutch oven seem to be moister than those cooked in a regular oven. The less air space in a Dutch oven keeps them moist throughout the cooking process. The amount of heat used might need to be adjusted depending on your elevation. Be sure to rotate the oven clockwise and the lid counterclockwise a quarter turn every few minutes to avoid hot spots.

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Preparation:

Cream together shortening, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls into a Dutch oven. If using a 12" Dutch oven, about 8 cookies will fit at one time. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown. Use 6 coals on bottom, 22 on top. As the coals burn down just add more cooking time or light some more coals part way through. Servings: 3 dozen

Fun Pizza Party Twist

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Aunt Mo

To add some suspense to a traditional pizza party divide you family and friends into teams. Give each team a premade pizza crust a jar of pizza sauce and a bag of cheese.

Wrap pizza toppings in gift wrap or newspaper and let each team pick 2 or 3 of the wrapped toppings. These are the toppings that they must use on their pizza.

After all the teams have “decorated” their pizzas and baked them, set them out for everyone to try. Cut pizza in small slices so there are lots of samples.

Below is a list of popular pizza toppings:

MEAT

Pepperoni

Ham

Canadian Bacon

Salami

Proscuitto

Turkey

Beef

Sausage

Bacon

Chorizo

BBQ Chicken

Meatballs

Ground Pork

VEGETABLES

Artichoke Hearts

Bell Peppers

Spinach

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Asparagus

Cauliflower

Red onions

Herbs (Fresh if Available)

Portobello Mushrooms

Kalamata Olives

Leeks

Mushrooms

Corn

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Chili Peppers

Squash

Eggplant

Jalapeno Peppers

Olives

More Cousin Party Ideas

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Cousin parties or camps provide a great chance for all of the cousins to spend time with each other and is a wonderful way for those long-distance cousins to get together with one another and nurture those relationships. The younger cousins begin to look up to the older ones and the older ones take on a protective nature.

The one thing that seems to be important to the success of a cousins party or camp is that NO parents are allowed. Thanks to Lisa and Annette for sharing the following cousin party ideas.

Grandma and Grandpa Hale have a cousins Christmas party every year. It is always on a Saturday afternoon in December. They invite all grade school age children. The kids who move out of grade school that year come back as the helper. They are great helpers and take their job seriously. No grown ups are allowed. Grandma Hale been doing her cousins party for many years and she suggests that it works much better without any parents.

Some of their cousin party traditional activities include:
* a craft
*play the candy bar game http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2011/06/candy-bar-game-for-your-family-reunion/
*Decorate Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas tree
*They go out for pizza
* They go to the theater, watch the dollar movie and see Santa or stay home and watch a movie if the party falls on a weekend that Santa is not visiting.
*White elephant gift exchange – They play the game where you can choose a new present or steal some one else’s http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2011/04/ten-ideas-for-your-family-reunion-part-2/
* Sleep over for one night
*They go to church – Two aunts come before church and have a beauty shop to do all the girls hair.
*They have a family night lesson – given by one of the older children who come prepared.
*They eat dinner and go home
Hint for parents of the cousins- Grandma and Grandpa are tired. Parents come on time!

The Parson family has a “Cousins Camp” that lasts an entire week. The cousins come prepared to go swimming and fishing at the beach. They eat watermelon and hotdogs and when they get back to Grandma’s house after the beach they make homemade ice cream while everyone showers. One of their traditional activities is to play hide and seek and Annie I Over.

The Parson family have a special “workshop”day where they the cousins rotate from station to station learning new things. One year Grandma and Grandpa had a neighbor come teach the cousins how to play tennis, then the girls rotated to the fingernail painting station and boys rotated to the bird house building station. The last station was decorating sugar cookies. One year the cousins all made decorative stepping stones that have become a lasting treasure in Grandma’s flower garden.

When everyone is tucked into their sleeping bags at night Grandpa tells stories until the cousins reluctantly fall asleep.

Whether an afternoon, one night sleepover or a week long camp consider planning a cousin’s party with your family. It’s a fun way to have a family reunion with the very best part of your family.

S’mores in a Non-Traditional Way

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I couldn’t believe that my brother gave my Mom the assignment to do S’mores for our Wells family reunion. Not that there is anything wrong with my Mom, she makes delicious S’mores, but we were having our family reunion at a condo in Park City, Utah and Park City is known for it’s amazing skiing not fire pits and marshmallow sticks.

But I wasn’t in charge of the family reunion this year and I decided that I shouldn’t say anything and so I just kept my mouth shut and waited to see what would happen. (My brothers are laughing as they read this.)

When I saw how my Mom set everything up I was very impressed. We got out the barbeque grill and then she arranged all the S’more making supplies on a plastic covered card table.

We used wood skewers for making Shiskabobs.

Mom thought of everything- marshmallows, chocolate and crackers. She even remembered the “Peeps” for roasted Peeps.

So thanks to my Mom’s organization and creative thinking, the Wells family had S’mores at our family reunion.

The lesson I learned from my Mom, and my brother too, is that even though tradition is a great thing, don’t hesitate to think “outside the box” and try old traditions in a new way.

And while your eating your S’mores try listening to the S’more song- Catchy S’more Song for a little “non-traditional” fun.

Aunt MO

Cookie Sheet Apple Pie for Your Family Reunion

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Now that you have chosen your family reunion theme and planned your games and activities you’ve got to figure out a way to feed all the hungry people that will show up at your reunion. For many folks the most important part of the family reunion is the – FOOD!

Feeding a 100 family members can be tricky and so I was thrilled when Marilyn Hunsaker shared her “Cookie Sheet Apple Pie” recipe at a family reunion presentation I gave recently. Most pies serve only 6 or maybe 8 but this cookie sheet pie serves 16-20. You will need 5 cookie sheet pies to feed a family of 100.

Cookie Sheet Apple Pie Recipe (16-20 Servings)

Ingredients
6 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 cups shortening
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup plus 4-1/2 teaspoons water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
8 cups sliced peeled apples (Marilyn uses 6- 8 Granny Smith apples)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup crushed cornflakes
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 egg whites, beat until foamy
1/2 cup milk
1 cup powder sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk the egg yolks, water and lemon juice; gradually add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Divide dough in half so that one portion is slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion to fit the bottom and sides of a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Arrange apples over crust. Combine the sugar, cornflakes, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over apples.
Roll out remaining dough to fit top of pie; place over apples. Seal edges; cut slits in top. Brush with egg white. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until golden brown.
Let pie mostly cool then mix 1/4 cup milk (plus enough more to make a thin glaze) in 1 cup powder sugar. Drizzle over the top of the pie.
Yield: 16-20 servings.

NOTE: When preparing the apples, Marilyn will peel and slice them the day before and put them in a pan. She adds enough water to cover the apples and bring them to a boil then she removes them from the heat and lets them cool. Put a plate on top to push the apples down and refrigerate. The next day drain the water off the apples and follow the recipe.

A New Family Reunion Song!

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Aunt Mo

A few weeks ago I was introduced to a new family reunion song. It was written and recorded by a talented musician, Brenda Fielding. Besides being a recording artist and song writer, Brenda is also a fan of family reunions and has a rich family heritage. Brenda’s song “Side by Side” talks about that heritage. One verse of the song says,

"Year after year, we gather you and I
Exchange our hugs and catch up on our lives
We play ball in a field
Pillow fights in a tent
Then hold the newest babies that were heaven sent."

Don’t you just love that- that’s a family reunion summed up in one verse. You may listen to Brenda’s song, “Side By Side” at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brendafielding .

Brenda contacted me a few weeks ago. Her family is planning a “Caveman” theme reunion this year and she was so friendly and outgoing that I thought it would be fun to talk to her about her song, her life and her family reunions. Here’s part of that conversation-

AUNT MO: Brenda, tell us a little about yourself.

BRENDA: I love music and family. I am a songwriter with a great husband and eight children. I have been married 26 years and I live in Scappoose, Oregon. My husband and I have owned our own businesses since 1992. We own a tree company and have done a lot of real estate. We have only owned our tree business for 8 years, before that we started and owned 2 restaurants for 14 years. We have also owned and ran a beauty salon and a horse ranch. I graduated from BYU in 1997 in Education. I love the piano and have played and taught it for most of my life. I also love to paint and appreciate all art.

AUNT MO: Where did you get the idea for your family reunion song, "Side by Side"?

BRENDA: I got the idea from the wonderful family I married into, the Fieldings. They have had an annual reunion since 1973. They wouldn’t even dream of not having a reunion every single year. We usually come together on a Friday and leave on a Monday. We have our traditional games, family pictures, and the cousins are loud and jump all over each other. We also play "Run My Sheepy Run" on Saturday night- which entails all the kids running around in the moonlight hiding behind trees etc. Sunday night is always the testimony meeting with s’mores.

AUNT MO: My favorite line in the song is "We look to the past and pull it forward" How did you come up with that line?

BRENDA: I came up with the line because that is our heritage. We look to the past and we still do what our ancestors do. We respect that. How did I come up with it? I’m not sure, I just thought of it because I was thinking about how to express respecting our heritage and traditions.

AUNT MO: Do you have any traditions you repeat every year at your family reunions?

BRENDA: We love to do the “Egg Toss” game. Everyone has a partner and tosses the egg then backs up about 3 feet each.

One of our oldest traditions is “Dummy Doll”: A very fluffy pretty puppet that is operated out of a doorway or a tent door. The kids ask it questions and the dummy dolls bites their fingers if they put them in it’s mouth. The kids love this and has been a tradition since the 1930’s.

We also love doing a “Fish pond”: All the parents bring a small gift of $5 or so. Older teens pin up a blanket and there is a pin attached to a plastic bag with a stick.

We also do a “Treasure Hunt”: All the grandkids have their name on a brown paper bag filled with peanuts and candy. They have to find their own bag.

Family pictures with some sort of matching t shirts. Last year we all tie dyed white shirts- the pictures turned out great. The year before all the males were in white collared shirts and all the females with in red and everyone had on blue jeans- very cute pictures. Before that we mainly had different colors for each family- so 10 different colors that we rotated every year.

AUNT MO: Most families struggle with how to pay for their family reunions. What works for your family?

BRENDA: Each family is assigned a meal which they buy all the ingredients for and make when it’s their turn. We all turn in our receipts to one uncle who makes sure that it’s all fair. Each family has to pay $200 plus $20 for each additional person in their family. That pays for a pretty nice reunion site then the uncle figures up all the receipts and gives a refund back for the food costs- all equal.

AUNT MO: How do your organize and plan your family reunions?

BRENDA: We have an adult meeting with all the original 10 kids and spouses and grandparents and we discuss the next year’s events.

AUNT MO: You’re a musician, how do you incorporate music into your family reunions?

BRENDA: "Love at Home" is sung at every testimony meeting cuz it was old Grandpa Fielding’s favorite. We include music in our morning devotionals. We have had some challenges with our devotional in the mornings, so this year we are going to start breakfast and then have a devotional after everyone starts coming in to eat. Hopefully it’ll work better and be better attended. We also include a little music before and after the talent show and also before the testimony meeting. We are going to use a www.familyreunionhelper.com idea this year and have a "Family Heritage" church instead of going to the local ward for church. That will give us some great opportunities for incorporating music into our reunion.

You can find the “Love At Home” song Brenda mentions at
“Love At Home”

AUNT MO: I’m sure a lot goes into writing and producing your own album, do you have plans for a second album?

BRENDA: I have enough songs for it, in fact, I have several more that I can use for a 3rd CD. I think you’ll like my new songs. One is called "The Widow’s Mite", "How did He know" (about how Jesus knew a woman in a crowd after she sought him out, now knowing who he was), "Tender Mercies", etc. It costs $1,000 per song to get it arranged and recorded. A couple thousand more for other production costs, CD cases, and the covers. I haven’t done it yet cuz I’m trying to figure out how to pay for it.

The title of Brenda’s album is “Let Christ In”. At CD Baby.com people can purchase the CD, download the album or for 99 cents you can download just the family reunion song, “Side by Side”. You can find Brenda’s music at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brendafielding

One of the best things about familyreunionhelper.com is meeting new people and making new friends. Good luck to Brenda and to the whole Fielding family!

Aunt MO

“Music is what feelings sound like.”

Book Aunt Mo to Speak at Your Workshop, Church Meeting or Conference

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Aunt Mo

Aunt Mo loves family reunions and loves talking about them. She is a dynamic and energetic speaker and her family reunion presentations include a PowerPoint presentation, game ideas, demonstrations and recipes. Aunt Mo is a great family reunion motivator and enthusiastically shares her ideas for a successful and memorable family reunion.

Non-profit groups may book a family reunion presentation for no cost within a 60 mile radius of Aunt Mo’s home in Bear River City, Utah. Outside the area, costs for fuel and lodging, if necessary, are required. Aunt Mo will provide you with photos for promotion, biography and handouts for duplication.

For church groups, Aunt Mo does not sell any products during her presentation but she encourages attendees to visit www.familyreunionhelper.com to download and print her free presentation materials.

Email Aunt MO today to book your family reunion presentation at auntmo@familyreunionhelper.com

More Fun Family Reunion Ideas

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Aunt Mo

We’ve done ten fun family reunion ideas now here are a few “bonus” ideas.

Family Reunion Idea #11- Make a Family Crest

Create a family crest or family logo. Brainstorm together what your family means and how that can be represented on paper. In European tradition, a coat of arms, which includes a crest, is a symbolic way of identifying a group of people. There is a wonderful site that makes designing your family crest easy and it’s free. After designing your family crest, enter your email address and then print it out and make your own family crest shirts and other reunion gear. http://www.makeyourcoatofarms.com/index.asp

Family Reunion Idea #12. Hillbilly Dinner

Host a Host a “Hillbilly” dinner at your family reunion. Decorate with gunny sacks, old tires, aluminum cans and a clothesline with long johns and flannel shirts strung between trees or hanging on a prominent wall. Be sure and use plenty of duct tape when decorating your reunion site. Use old newspapers or burlap for your tablecloths.

A hillbilly theme is a great theme idea if you will be cooking hot dogs over a fire or tin foil dinners. Be sure and serve homemade root beer in pint jars (I like the jars with handles but they’re kind of hard to find.) and serve your food on pie tins you get from your local thrift store.

Get your family involved with a pig calling contest and use individual pies (Like Hostess pies) for a pie eating contest.

Family Reunion Idea #13- Make a Human Family Tree

Take a family tree picture. Arrange your family just like their names would appear on a genealogical chart of the family tree. Take a picture from the young end first, then have everyone turn around and get a picture of the group from the oldest end.

Family Reunion Idea #14- “Who’s Who” Photo Game

Ask Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents or invite everyone to send photocopies of baby pictures of each family member. This is easy to do now that everything s digital. Mount and number each picture on a large poster board. Give each player a piece of paper numbered to match the number of pictures. Each player writes baby’s names that match the numbers. It’s so funny to see who the children at your family reunion think the pictures are of. They have a difficult time imagining Uncle Ben or Aunt Lisa as a baby.

Family Reunion Idea #15- Have a video scavenger hunt.

This activity will only work if you have access to video cameras and a way to watch the completed videos. A projection system is the best for a large family group. Be sure you have at least one adult with each group. It is probably best to ask adults to bring their video camera and do the filming of the group.

THE RULES:
You have (specify time) to complete as many items on the list as possible.
You must return to ____ by the designated time for your tape to be valid.
Teams must limit the filming of each item to 20 seconds or shorter.
All team players except cameraperson must appear in each video segment.
Stay in the specified region for the hunt.
Wear your seat belt whenever the car is moving.
Cell phones cannot be used to complete tasks.

The following list of tasks is a list used at an activity I attended. This is the list they gave us. I’m not a big fan of embarrassing people so some of the tasks made me feel uncomfortable. You can use this list but I highly recommend adapting it to your location and family group.

THE TASKS: (Each task is worth 5 points)

Sing Happy Birthday Song (you may have to sing fast to get it recorded in 20 seconds)
Find a runner. Have your team jog with him or her.
Video of everyone searching on the floor for a contact lens.
Pump someone else’s gas and wash their windshield
Someone ordering a cheeseburger without any cheese.
Doing a cartwheel inside 7-11.
Team riding an automated kiddie ride in front of store.
Go to a restaurant and stand in front of it singing the restaurant’s theme song.
Do a good deed for someone you do not know.
Your group standing by a movie poster rated PG or less.
Someone doing a stupid human trick.
Organize apples at grocery store.
Form human pyramid in front of a famous landmark in the community.
Everyone wearing king hats from Burger King.
Get your whole group into a tree and have them sing “In the Leafy Tree Tops”.
Have a stranger tell you a joke.

When the time is over, teams return to the starting point, your family reunion site. Dock teams 1 point for each minute they are late. To view the scavenger hunt videos pop the tape into the player. Choose two or three judges from your family to keep track of each teams’ score and award prizes to the top teams.

Family Reunion Theme Ideas

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Aunt Mo

A family reunion doesn’t have to have a theme to be successful but creating a theme for a family reunion is a great way to interest people and make them more likely to attend. A reunion invitation that invites you to a “Prehistoric” reunion for Brontosaurs burgers is more interesting than an invitation that invites you to a family reunion at “the park”. It also makes things more fun when it comes to being imaginative with food, games, activities, invitations and just about every other aspect of the reunion.

In addition, a good themed reunion will help to break the ice, especially for those family members who have not met before or who do not know each other really well.

Ask family members for their theme ideas. Our best family reunion themes have come from Aunt Lynn and her family. When they suggested a “Caveman” theme I was kind of worried about what we would do but our reunion planning committee brainstormed and incorporated dinosaur and prehistoric ideas for a super fun reunion.

The location that you choose to have your reunion might influence the theme you choose for your reunion. A campground with lots of trees and foliage makes for a great “jungle” theme and a lake or swimming pool is a wonderful “beach” reunion theme.

If you will be spending a day at an amusement park you might what to choose your reunion theme around one or the popular rides. Plan your reunion around a “color”, a decade such as the Roaring twenties, 50’s Sock Hop, 70’s Disco, 80’s New wave, 90’s Grunge, or even “The Future” theme.

The size of your family may also influence your reunion theme. For an “All-sport” reunion you may need a lot of people for softball, Human Foosball and football games.

Don’t be afraid to repeat a family reunion theme that was successful in the past. All you have to do is update the old ideas and refine the details. Our western reunion is so popular we’ve done it several times and it just keeps getting better and better.

Below are just a few family reunion themes that you may want to consider for your next family event.

All- Sport or Olympic Themed Reunion

Get away from a boring sit around and just visit family reunion and jump into some action packed fun with an All-sport or Olympic themed family reunion.

Activities- Soccer, volleyball, “whiffle” ball, Whacky miniature golf. Hold a cheerleader camp for the girls in your family and a sports camp for the boys. Go bowling or hold a family 5K. Give a family reunion MVP award. For fun variations of these favorite sports- whiffle ball, soccer, bowling, swimming and volleyball plus lots of great ideas for your sports themed reunion check out www.familyreunionhelper.com.

Food- Smoothies, “Breakfast of Champions” or “Long Jump” lunch hoagies.

Wear– favorite team jerseys and t-shirt. Make a family t-shirt fashioned after a sports jersey.

Decorations: Pom, poms, pennants, sports balls, sports posters.

Family History or Family Heritage Reunion

If your family reunion is held near where the family originated, then schedule a trip to the old family homestead, church or cemetery. You can use this as an opportunity to share family memories, or go a step further and recruit the clan to clean up the ancestral cemetery plots or research the family in old church records. Hold your reunion at the family home if available or in the town where one of your ancestors were born, raised, married or buried. You can find more Family History ideas for your family reunion at www.familyreunionhelper.com.

Food – Use an ancestor’s home country as theme for your meals. Use recipes from that county and set tables with a centerpiece of memorabilia and a picture of your ancestor. If your people come from Italy, serve a spaghetti dinner, from Mexico, serve tacos, enchiladas or tamales.

Activities – Play “classic” games at your reunion such as “3-legged race, gunny sack race, Annie I Over. Create a huge wall chart of your family so everyone can see how they are related. Take “old-time” photos and have everyone dress up. Make a family “time capsule”.

Dress – In the ethnic costume of your ancestors.

Decorations – Display historical memorabilia from your family and ancestors.

Hawaiian Luau

Grandma will love passing out multi-colored leis (along with a kiss on the cheek) as people arrive at this family reunion.

Food – Pig roast, anything pineapple

Activities – Tinikling- Tinikling means "bamboo dance" in English. Hula hoops, bubbles and Frisbees, volleyball, swimming, Limbo and of course, hula dancing. Make Hawaiian leis from paper flowers and don’t forget to spend some time in the pool at your Hawaiian reunion.

Dress – Hawaiian shirts, Bermuda shorts and grass skirts.

Decorations – Hawaiian travel posters, flowers, straw skirt table.

Sun, Sand and Surf Reunion Theme

It’s summertime and the perfect time for a Sun, Sand & Surf family reunion. Merge your beach reunion ideas with your Hawaiian reunion ideas for double the fun.

Invitations: Consider sending “Message in a Bottle” invitations to encourage family members to attend your family reunion or write out your reunion invitation on a beach ball with a permanent marker.

Activities: Sand candles and castles, sand art, volleyball variations and swimming pool games. Aquatic Obstacle Course: Use sprinklers, Slip-N-Slides, baby pools, limbo sticks and hula hoops to create an obstacle course for wet and wild reunion fun!

Food: Sub sandwiches, fruit trays, shish kabobs, fruit kabobs, gold fish crackers.

Decorations are easy for a beach themed family reunion. Use beach umbrellas, Beach towels, Beach balls, Paper party lanterns, Paper Palm trees and party lights on a string. Don’t forget to use pink flamingos in your decorating and be sure to include music from the Beach Boys to round out your reunion theme.

Wedding Anniversary or Significant Birthday Reunion Theme
Planning a family reunion around an important wedding anniversary or milestone birthday makes for an easy but important family reunion.

Invitation – Put two photos of the honored couple on the invitation: their original wedding photo and a current photo.

Food – Finger foods and a “wedding” cake.

Activities- “When You Were My Age” A Celebration of Life’s Memorable Moments. This is such a fun program, fashioned after a Bill Cosby Show episode and was called, "When Mom Was my Age." We have done variations of the program for 70th and 80th birthdays and 50th wedding anniversaries. Each time we do "When You Were My Age" everyone is a good sport and excited to be a part of the celebration. Everyone has a part on the program and an opportunity to highlight world events and significant family happenings throughout the life of your loved one. Download the “When You Were My Age” from Family Reunion Helper or write a "This Is Your Life" program for your reunion celebration.

Decorations – Photos and other various memorabilia of the couple’s life together.

Three Ring Circus and Carnival

Begin your reunion with a circus parade and invite everyone to dress in fun costumes and march around your reunion site.

Food –Circus food- corn dogs, cotton candy and popcorn

Activities – As your family arrives, have then guess how many circus animal cookies are in a jar. The person who guesses closest to the actual number wins the jar full of circus animal cookies. Have a carnival. Assign 6- 10 family members a carnival booth. Children earn prizes at each booth. Face painting, fishing booth, fortune teller, Plinko, Dart Throw etc. Consider renting a bounce house for the little ones in your family. For more ideas check out the family reunion “circus” theme at www.familyreunionhelpercom/

Decorations – Balloons, tents and circus animal cutouts.

Whatever your family reunion theme you can count on Family Reunion Helper for step by step, proven family reunion help that really works, not just "ideas", but actual planning advice, schedules, activities, games, recipes and templates to make your next reunion memorable.

Family Reunion Hot Wheel Party

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Aunt Mo

I love to do family reunion presentations to church groups and women’s conferences. At my recent presentation one of the dear grandma’s that attended expressed some concern about doing a three day family reunion and it occurred to me (kind of like one of those “could’ve had a V-8 moments in the commercials)- have I ever mentioned that your reunion doesn’t have to last three days or two or even all day? A family reunion can be a fun afternoon with your family at the park, swimming pool or the family homestead. Any time you can get together as a family is a good thing and counts as a family reunion.

So I thought I’d tell you about a fun party idea for abbreviated family reunion. My family loves to have their own car races- Pinewood Derby or Hot Wheels race.

If you know anything about scouting you know how fun and popular a Pinewood Derby can be. About 10 years ago we had derby at our family reunion. We let anyone that wanted to participate bring a derby car. It could be one that they had made in the past or one that they made just for our derby. We awarded prizes for how the cars looked and how they performed.

We arranged for a man in our local to bring his derby race track and timer for our event. He charged us $20.00. Our reunion was held at a campground and we asked the camp hosts to be the judges at our derby. We invited them to stay for Dutch oven cobbler after the races and I think they really enjoyed being part of things. We gave trophies for the fastest car and also gave out the following awards:

Best Paint Job
Most Colorful
Most Realistic
Most Original
Best Workmanship
Best Funny Car
Coolest Design
Most Unusual

I heard of a family that passed out unfinished Pinewood Derby kits to their family as they arrived at their family reunion. They gave them an hour to put their cars together and make whatever alterations they wanted to their car. When the hour was up they began the race with roughly finished cars.

It was quite surprising to me how excited everyone was about participating in the derby. One of my nephews even had his car professionally painted.

Hot Wheel Car Races

When my brothers and I were little we used to have Hot Wheels races and the tradition continues with our children today. In fact, if any of my nieces and nephews read are reading this blog just remember Aunt MO ALWAYS has the fastest car!! The track we used to use is now orange “vintage” track and you cannot buy it at the store or online. However, you can, always find it on eBay. The most important part of your race is the starter which you see pictured here.

We love to get Hot Wheels cars in our Christmas stocking and then have a “race day” during the holiday. At other times of the year we converge on the local toy store in search of the fastest car rolling them back and forth in their clear containers and checking them for weight. We limit everyone to just two entries in our double elimination tournament.

I’m always on the lookout for Hot Wheel and Nascar type prizes and store them in a box until the next family race day. Notebooks, stickers, candy and even Spaghetti O’s make fun prizes for your race.

One final idea that I have never tried but sure sounds fun is to play a car relay race as a warm up before the big race.

CAR RELAY GAME: Have teams line up and each person in the team has a certain action to do. For instance, the first person in each group is a flat tire and hops on one foot; the second person is a broken steering wheel and runs zig-zag; the third person is a rusty transmission and takes three steps forward and two backwards; the fourth person is stuck in reverse and runs backward; the fifth and sixth people are a car with a trailer – one runs behind the other grabbing on.

The movie “Cars” sure made it easy to find auto type decorations and novelties. Wilton put out a Cars cake pan that was fun and fruit chews and cookies helped complete the party theme.

Gentlemen, start your engines…

Aunt MO

A difference of opinion is what makes horse racing (car racing) and missionaries. Will Rogers

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