D-Day

Happy D-Day, everybody.

The morning of the Open House, starting to decorate the back yard.

Kinda weird our first graduate's Open House fell on the most pivotal moment in the history of modern warfare. Despite what you may think, we totally did not plan that when we picked the date -  we were just hoping to book a Saturday close to the end of the school year but far enough away from our upcoming Tennessee trip next weekend so as to not stress us the f*** out. 

I'm a history nerd, though, so I'll take it.

If you've never had to host one of these open house thingies before, I can assure you that doing so is not nearly as much fun as you'd think. Planning for this party was even more stressful than planning our annual Halloween parties; months of preparations, fine tuning a menu, ordering all kinds of decor and crap, setting up a timeline for executing the party (when to grab tables and chairs, when to thaw meat, when to send out invites, etc.) I used AI to set up a timeline for when to knock everything out, and we began checking off boxes back in, like, March or April.

Canopies and coolers begin to get set up in the backyard, the morning of.

What really threw a monkey wrench into the whole thing was it was looking like we'd be rained out entirely. In the week leading up to the party - which, in our ultimate wisdom, we had decided on hosting outdoors in our backyard - Kris and I continuously check our weather apps to get updates on the forecast, which showed thunderstorms for most of the afternoon we'd be hosting Alayna's open house. This threw us into a last-minute panic, obviously: Kris suggested changing venues and using her church's cafeteria instead, or even changing the date to the following day, but I was more of a fan of hosting the event indoors at our house and utilize our garage space (not wanting to change date and location, which would prohibit a lot of RSVP-ers from coming.) 

Over the course of a few days, however, the outlook improved ('thunderstorms' changed to 'showers,' then 'occasional rain,' etc.), but was still sketchy enough to prohibit Kris and I from getting a head start on setting up anything outside in advance. That meant that, if the weather continued to get better and we'd be a go for hosting this thing out in our backyard, Kris and I would be setting up EVERYTHING the morning of the party. And it would be a mad scramble to pull it off in time.

. . . aaaaaaaand that's exactly what happened.

Kris focused on setting out the food while I tackled all the rest of the crap.

The weather apps were all saying that the day of Alayna's open house (today) was going to have great weather - mostly sun, no rain at all, etc. - but it was going to rain overnight, which would keep us from setting up tables and chairs the night before. Kris and I had no choice but to wake up early this morning and bust out all of the tables, chairs, and canopies right away. Then we had to set up all of the decorations, set up the coolers, heat up the food, and get ready ourselves. I'm not exaggerating at all when I tell you that we were putting the finishing touches on things just as folks were ready to arrive.

Drink coolers, separated by beverage type and labeled by Yours Truly. . .

There are no words in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men to begin to describe the level of stress we were under. And I'm saying this as a middle school teacher.

So yeah, the sun shines a dog's ass every once and awhile, and Kris and I somehow managed to pull the whole thing off. Turn out was pretty good, and while a lot of folks couldn't personally make it out today due to conflicting schedules, Alayna raked in a TON of money (like, an obscene amount), and so ultimately the party was worth it in the end ('cause these things are basically fundraisers for your college-bound children, right? I never quite understood why we have these things.) Anyway, I took some pics throughout the afternoon when time allowed, and included them below for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy. . .

Bought a case of Miller Lite (the beer of choice for most of the guys who I hang around with here in Midland) as well as a sampler case of Bell's that I stumbled upon at Costco. Something normal, something fancy.

And something for the women folks.

I had originally included .png images of Alayna (from her Preschool Graduation, if you'll recall) on the signs for the previously-shown booze coolers, but when I emailed the signs for Kris to print off at her work (my work printer doesn't print in color), she removed them because having a five-year-old associated with alcohol was 'inappropriate.' Seriously.

Alayna's boyfriend, Sebastian, brought over this snow cone machine as the party's dessert (opposed to buying a sheet cake or a shit-load of cupcakes or something along those lines.) His folks had one leftover from him and his twin brother's open house, so all Kris and I had to do was buy a few different types of flavored syrups for it. I didn't think much of this - figured it was going to be more of a novelty thing for a few kids, really - but this thing got a TON of use throughout the afternoon/evening. Adults and kids alike, we might have to get one of these things for ourselves.

Not busy at all.

The Cannonball, helping set out the table centerpieces.

Kris attempted (multiple times) to hang up this SVSU flag on one of the canopies, but it kept falling down. When I had a free second I'd eventually get over there and secure it in place. Never have a woman do a man's job, folks.

We decorated our patio gazebo and had this be like the 'About the Grad' area (where folks set out examples of their work, the card box, pictures, etc.) I had a nearby TV set up shuffling a slideshow of like 500 pictures of Alayna from birth to present, on a loop.

The Graduate

Don't ask how long it took us to get this banner situated. . .

Another shot of the patio canopy.

Tables for folks to eat.

Alayna set our patio chairs up in the shade, over by the shed, as a place 'for the elderly to sit.' Little did she know that this would eventually turn into the hangout spot for The Kings of the Hill. Who, I guess, are kinda elderly now.

We weren't sure if folks would want to have a bonfire at the end of the night (you never know with this group), but it didn't end up happening. Better safe than sorry, though.

Backyard activities for the small-ass children.

Kris ordered these grade-level signs off of Amazon, and positioned them along the side of our house to kinda lead folks into the backyard. Turned out pretty awesome.

Everybody either goes with pulled pork or tacos for these open house things, so we wanted to do something different. Alayna leaned into the taco idea, though, but requested it be Taco Bell-themed. As you know, she works there, and was able to acquire several of the only-available-in-the-store sauces they use on their food items (not sure how her managers allowed that, but whatever), along with all the recipes for different menu options. She shared these with me and I created signs do display above the food so folks could make their own authentic Taco Bell menu items. It went over pretty well.

THAT'S how you hang a flag, folks.

She's special.

Slideshow, up and running.

Ready for battle, minutes before folks started to show up. Ignore the grass, we've had a rain-less week in the high-80s around here, and this spot - regardless of regular watering - gets cooked easily.

Folks begin to arrive, right at 2pm. A lot of these people here are Alayna's co-workers from Taco Bell.

Kris' old boss, Bart, and his wife.

Dad and Cindy, Kris' aunt, Mickey, and Alayna's boyfriend, Sebastian, in the food line.

The Cannonball with two of her friends, Cristina and Rita.

The early crowd fills up on some 'Taco Bell.'

Sara and some other person who (I assume) she and Alayna work with.

Mickey and her husband, Dennis

The Cannonball and some of her coworkers.

Cristina, her mom and her mom's sister (visiting from Spain), and Rita. I was wearing a Palestinian flag hat today (because FREE F***ING PALESTINE), and Cristina's mom brought over her sister to tell me they both loved it (the sister barely speaks English, so that was fun.) Spreading awareness, folks.

John, Alayna, and our neighbors, Dave and Sherri, along with a friend of theirs who frequently visits.

Abby and the girls' boyfriends, hanging out with my parents.

My old high school buddy, Trevor, showed up about a half hour into this thing, despite his ongoing battle with cancer.

His wife, Sara, with Nagatha Christie.

Seriously, with this snow cone machine. . .

Kris, Marcy and Mickey.

From left to right: Sebastian, Cannonball, Jackson, Sophie, Ella, Abby, Logan, aaaaaand somebody I don't know.

Kris, Trina (and her son), and their former boss (and his wife) posing with the graduate.

Checking out the sheet music binder (containing all the pieces she's performed in concert since she was in fifth grade.)

(Not sure what this is.)

The Pickvets (new additions to our local Tribe) were hosting their daughter's open house at the exact same time as ours. so most of the families in our group hit their place up first for an hour or so before proceeding on to ours.

Erik, talking with my folks.

Larsons, Griffins, Boses, and Sheahans were the first to arrive.

Mom catching up with her brother, Grant, and his wife, Linda. Mom had come over around 10am and helped us knock stuff out in the kitchen for a couple hours, before eventually heading home to clean up before coming back for the party. There is zero percent chance we would have been able to get everything ready in time without her assistance.

The teenage children, inexplicably hanging out in the far back of the yard (for whatever reason.)

Alayna's Varsity Letter, orchestra award, graduation ceremony accents, sheet music, etc. 

My brother Jeff and his kids showed up about an hour or so into the open house (thereby unleashing the horror of my nephews onto the gathered masses.)

Uncle Grant, Mom, and Aunt Linda

Sebastian up and climbed this huge-ass oak tree behind my shed at one point. Pretty sure no one's done that before.

Ella, Abby, the Cannonball, and Sophie, waiting for him to fall.

I set up our cornhole boards behind the tables just in case folks wanted something to do. They didnt' get a lot of use at first, but eventually folks started to utilize them.

Marcy and her snow cone.

Why is Owen just randomly sitting on our garden bench?

Sophie and the Cannonball

Alayna with Papa and Nana

With Amy and her daughter, Rylen

Sebastian's mom (forget her name) made an appearance with his twin brother, Silas, and his girlfriend, Isla.

Alayna and Toby

Marcy, Mickey and Dennis with our neighbors, Jim and Carry. A couple different people asked me if Jim was my dad's brother (they do look a lot alike.)

Lil' Baby Jeffy and Levi

Levi, you're doing it wrong.

Getting a pic with Grant and Linda on the walk out to their car. Grant was checking out Sebastian's Corvette on the way out, he's a big car guy.

Abby whipped up a sign for our front door, since we had a couple people early on in the day ring the doorbell and stand around for a bit, not knowing where to go.

Cars everywhere.

What an achievement. Nobody graduates high school anymore.

With the Larsons (they ended up taking off about after an hour, they must've had somewhere else to be - 'tis the season.) 

Alayna and Sebastian

One with Uncle Jeff and his minions.

Kris' best friend, Kim, her husband Matt, and their daughter, Makayla.

The Kings of the Hill set up shop in the 'elderly seating area.' Left to right: Big E, Holty, Lonnie Big Balls, and the Pro.

Hens clucking.

Kris gets her usual selfie with the Cannonball.

With Alicia and Steven.

The Jacksons.

The only time our trampoline ever gets used anymore. I'm this close to just listing it on Facebook Marketplace - free, but you have to disassemble and pick up.

Leave us alone, we're snugglin'.

Got around to trying one of these. Not terrible, but it tastes just like a Two Hearted - not sure what the difference is.

Alayna and Grandma.

Kids take over the cornhole boards.

Laginess clan and the neighbors.

Kris' current boss, Paul, and his wife, Melanie.

After hours of schmoozing with visitors, things began to quiet down and I was finally able to sit and have a beer with the guys.

With Jim and Carry

Alayna posing with her twelve school picture signs.

Alayna, Sebastian, and a couple of her other friends (no idea who these two are.)

With Grandma Marcy.

. . . and Aunt Mickey and Dennis (they had to leave to drive back up to Gaylord.)

Hanging out in the VIP section.

Alayna and Julian (and me, finally getting a plate of food.)

Once most folks had left for the day, we finally let Samson out (we didn't want him out when the side gate kept opening and closing - that's the last thing we needed today, the dog getting out and running around the neighborhood like some kinda asshole.)

Mitch and Lonnie

We had a Ella take a couple family pics for us in front of this banner (I had to show her how to use the zoom on the SLR - there's a learning curve, for sure.)

The Houghs

Kris sees to the spread.

We held down this area as Kris and the other moms started to tear down the canopies and chairs. I was all about helping with the tear down but I wanted to be able to sit and chill for a hot minute first.

The kids had gotten funned out with being outdoors in the summer heat this afternoon, so had made their way down into the basement as evening came on.

Myles and LJ, playing on their usual screens in the Study.

The tear-down begins. Collier was wanting to pack up his canopy early (we borrowed a few from friends - as camping veterans, we all have a couple) 'cause him and some of the other guys were all going to the NASCAR races downstate early the next morning (like we did last year - I was skipping it this time around because, after today's insanity, I wasn't about to head out early the next day for yet another whirlwind outing.)

The tear-down, chugging right along.

This is a reliable choice. Not one of my personal favorites, but a safe pick.

Ella and the Cannonball.

And, in closing, one of Alayna's personally-designed centerpieces. Most folks had left by like 7pm, and due to the following mornin's early races (that many of the dads were going to), our friend group didn't do the usual thing it does where the after-party rages until well after midnight. We had the placed cleaned up and put away before 8pm, and spent the rest of the evening decompressing from the day's insanity. All in all, a solid open house - a shit-load of prep-work, to be sure, but well worth it considering the amount of plunder the Cannonball raked in. We'll get to do this all over again in two years when Abby graduates, so that's cool.

- Brian