Summer has definitely hit Austin—over 100 all week! To help cool off, we hosted a water field games party this past Saturday. Thankfully it wasn’t crazy hot, and it actually rained a bit. There were seven games (with prizes!) and lots of food and refreshments. It was buckets of fun with 30+ friends and family joining us. Here are the party highlights.

FOOD

1. Burger fixins and DIY nem nuong (grilled pork patties) spring rolls. I brought back nem nuong from Brodard in Westminster, CA—my favorite spring roll restaurant.

2. Watermelon salad from the Ravenous Couple – I forgot to add the feta but it was still tasty.

3. Couscous salad

4. Brie with arugula, peach jam, and walnuts

5. Crock pot mac-n-cheese from Budget Savvy Diva

6. Chips and dips – mango salsa, Texas caviar, and pimento cheese

7. Grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream from The Pioneer Woman

8. Party favors – salted brown butter rice krispies pops from Smitten Kitchen. I added some chocolate and blue sprinkles for color.

REFRESHMENTS

Along with tons of beer that guests brought and some non-alcoholic options we provided, there was:

1. White sangria from the Food Network – I multiplied the ingredients by five but used only two apples, one bunch of mint, and guesstimated the grapes.

2. Lychee sakitini poptail from Endless Simmer. I doubled the recipe which made 16 poptails. My strawberries weren’t very sweet so they ended up quite tart.

3. Strawberry greyhound poptail from Endless Simmer. I doubled the recipe which made 20 poptails although I forgot to strain it before freezing.

WATER FIELD GAMES

1.  Water Balloon Toss – a bit disorganized but there were at least clear winners. 

2. Sponge Relay – this was the most chaotic game. Poor planning on my part, the goal was to overflow the bucket but it took way too long. People starting getting creative/cheating.

3. Water Limbo – I didn’t realize our friends were so flexible!

4. Target Practice – blindfolded shots with a water blaster to remove the shaving cream target.

5. Tug-O-War – we learned you should add knots to minimize rope burn. Whoops.

6. Marble Grab – whoever could grab the most marbles in 1 minute using their toes.

7. Water Balloon and Sponge Dodgeball – I made 60 sponge balls (each with 8 sticks tied together with fishing line). See this tutorial.

A Texas party isn’t a party without a piñata, Clifford the Crocodile!

Then it started raining harder so we headed inside. A few friends stayed after to just hang and chat. It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon/evening!

*Thanks to Joe and Phyllis for letting me use some of their photos (they’re the pics with the great lighting)!