A Little New Year's Fun

Are you more of a stay-at-home-and-go-to-bed-early on New Year's Eve kind of person, or do you prefer big parties with lots of people and even more food?

I fall somewhere in the middle. I like being at some sort of celebration to ring in the new year, but the bigger that celebration gets, the more nervous I feel. This year, our New Year's Eve celebration consisted of the two of us, a couple of friends, and their kids. And. It. Was. Perfect.

We'd planned to get together with our friends Mike and Angie over Christmas, but it didn't end up working out schedule-wise, so we rescheduled for New Year's Eve instead. Since they have kids, we went to their house, so the kiddos could go to bed on time in their own beds, and we could just hang out, drink coffee, eat snacks, play games, and talk!

Mike and Angie are fabulous cooks, and Mike went all out with a full New Year's Eve menu: cabbage, pierogis, shrimp, and sausage.

Oh, and did I mention these are the friends of ours who have a coffee bar in their kitchen and sometimes bring us lattes?

Why yes. It is a happy new year.

Netflix had a thing where you could pick when YOU wanted it to be midnight and you play a countdown for your kids. So we did a countdown dance and toast to "midnight" about 8 p.m. and the kiddos went straight to bed. {Impressive!}

And then the games began.

So you've seen those virtual realities, right? Well, Mike and Angie have one, and we spent the ENTIRE NIGHT passing that thing around, playing games. It started with an app that was supposed to help you conquer your fear of heights. Ryan has no fear. I have lots of it. So here were our experiences.

And then we played this interactive game that was flat-out HARD. It's called "Keep Talking and No One Explodes." So the person wearing the virtual reality is in a room with a briefcase that has a bomb attached. You have to describe what you see, and the rest of the players go through this manual and read the directions to you of how to diffuse it before it explodes. There are DOZENS of wires and codes and such, and you're working against a timer and occasional distractions. It's pretty intense! I was sweating a couple of times when it was my turn!

For the record, I was the only player who, by the end of the night, had not successfully diffused at least ONE. So I don't think I have a future with the FBI or anything.

{Bet you can't tell who was successful...}

We played until almost midnight, and then it was time to pour the sparkling grape juice and welcome 2017!

It really was the perfect, low-key night. We appreciated Mike and Angie opening their home to us and being so hospitable with food and games and fun! :)

Happy New Year!!!