We have friends who make New Year’s Eve THE big family holiday.

They invite everyone from both sides of the extended family to spend 24 hours together bringing in the new year. With all the boyfriends and girlfriends, and the one friend that each teen is allowed to invite, they have 65-70 people gathered for the party.

Most people bring sleeping bags, pj’s, and a toothbrush. Each family brings a meal or snacks and some beverages.

They rent a bunch of family-friendly movies and video games, gather all the cards and board games, plan a few crafts and some games. They set up tournaments – Guitar Hero, Wii sports, bridge, Hearts, checkers, Scrabble – you name it.

There’s always one television with movies and one with video games. The young kids have a quiet(ish) place to sleep – everyone else throws down a sleeping bag as they get tired.

New Year’s hats, horns, sparklers, fireworks, etc. are all ready to go for the big moment at midnight.

Parties like this are good for all ages – there’s plenty to do and there is no drinking & driving (or even being on the road). Our friends have been hosting this party for over 20 years, and no one ever misses it – it’s just too much fun.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 9:31 am and is filed under Family friendly activities, food, tips, Holiday tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.