Schools Out for Summer Party

I woke up one morning and they were big. I don’t know how it happened, but now I have one heading to Pre-K, one to 1st grade, and one to 3rd grade. It seems like last week that we were going to Gymboree and tumbling on mats instead of doing real homework and reading chapter books. All 3 had wonderful teachers this year, and they learned so much. They also worked really hard, and to celebrate a great year, we had a “last day of school” ice cream party. It was also our way of saying goodbye to our neighborhood friends. I have to be honest, this was one of my most favorite parties that we have ever had. It was easy, cheap, and the kids went crazy for it. I made a few sauces, bought some fun toppings and ice cream, and that was it. Wes filled 120 water balloons and it was an afternoon filled with happy tummies and lots of laughter. Adults and children alike.

We live on an Army base, and the kids outnumber the adults. By a lot. I figured that I would have about 40 kids. I bought 8 tubs of Breyers, and 50 cups. We ended up running out of cups and our kind neighbors brought us some reinforcements, so we served about 80 cups of ice cream in a little over an hour. Next time, I would offer less toppings, or have more than 2 kids at the table at a time. It slowed things up, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. I was standing on the other side of the table, and at some points it was overwhelming to see that many children in line coming towards me. It felt like they were going to rush me. Thankfully, they took it easy on me.

Here is what I had:

chocolate sauce (4 batches)
caramel sauce (2 batches)
strawberry sauce
peach sauce
raspberry sauce
milk chocolate chips
white chocolate chips
sliced almonds
M&Ms
Andes candies
Reeses Pieces
Mini Reeses Cups
rainbow sprinkles
chocolate sprinkles
mini marshmallows
cinnamon marshmallows
gummy bears
Oreo crumbs
whipped cream (the surprising hit of the party)

To make your life a million times easier, pre-scoop the ice cream. I softened the ice cream a bit, scooped it out, and put it back in the freezer. I covered each sheet pan with parchment and had them stacked up in the freezer. I have a freezer outside in my garage, so as soon as I was running low, my husband would grab me another, and we were back in business. Next year (this will now be an annual event), I will most likely only offer vanilla. It will just be easier that way.

The kids were really into picking out their toppings. I was also impressed that a lot of them picked the fruit toppings. Not my kids, of course, but I knew that they wouldn’t.

In between ice cream, they threw lots of water balloons. And then came back for some more.

Here is to a great summer, filled with new adventures, and new friends.