Food Fight: Type A Style

Sometime in the dead of this past winter, a seed of an idea was planted and began to grow into something beyond what any of us (except Jacob, maybe/probably) imagined.  Here is a general outline of the progression: 

• (after reading Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs): Can you imagine it raining (insert food here)?
• Are food fights a real thing?
• Have you ever been in one?
• A food fight would be funny. 
• This (any random food) would be fun to have at a food fight.
• Can we have a food fight?
• When could we have a food fight?
• When will we have a food fight?
  (I think when I answered it would need to be warm for one, he assumed I meant we were for sure having one once it was warm.)
• This (any random food) would be fun to have at the food fight.
  Me: The food fight…?
• Can we invite (random friend) to the food fight? 
• We should have that at the food fight. 
• We could serve that at the food reception after the food fight.
  Me: (?!)
• Have you invited (one of many friends) to the food fight, yet? 
• (to anyone on or off the “official” 90-person-deep guest list): Are you able to come to the food fight? It’s June 8th. You’re welcome to stay for the food reception afterward. 

I will liken this progression to the growth of our volunteer cilantro that started coming up on a warm day in mid-January and is just now going to seed. 

Hard to tell in this picture, but it was as tall as her.

So, at some point, we started planning in earnest.  We made a list of food fight items, "food reception" fare, and guests.  We scouted, we budgeted, and we acquired.  We invited family and old friends and new friends.  We talked about the food fight nearly every day…for real.  

As the event drew nearer, the guest list grew, as did my to-do list.  Never did I ever expect to set aside time to prepare over a pound of Jello powder (it fills a dish pan, for the record) or fill thirty squirt bottles with watered-down caramel (in case you ever find yourself doing so, just know it’s much easier to water it down first than to shake them together in the tiny bottle).  I also did not see myself preparing several packages of pudding (with nearly-expired milk) to be flung at a target or asking my husband to help fry pancake "frisbees."  And yet, we did it all; all in preparation.  

Grandma scouted this for us as a small-town store in Auburn, NE. 
So, I guess we could say we had imported Jello…?

This was a treasure of an Aldi find.  When we first scouted Aldi for cool whip, they were out.  We were there for other things the next week, this was no longer on my radar, but Jacob changed the air pressure in the room with his "Mom!! LOOK!!!!" gasp, and I changed it again with my subsequent gasp of excitement.  Not only did they have what we were looking for in stock, but they had a larger size for a better price!  (This was later used for plate-full-of-whipped-cream "pies" to be put in faces.)

expired pasta + expired food coloring

Remember that time I worked at HyVee?  I put my one remaining contact to good use and checked in to see if they might be able to contribute any discarded items.  It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

They definitely delivered!  None of us could believe it. 

Many old, crusty marshmallows were thrown.

preparing powdered sugar "bombs"

As she was leaving the event, a friend of mine said, "This was the most Type A food fight ever, and it was awesome!"  As a fellow Type A herself, she noticed and appreciated the many details we had thought through, including, but not limited to: a packing list with a suggestion to wear goggles, food-related games to play upon arrival, shower caps, clearly-marked boundaries, a hosing-off station, a paper trail to the bathroom, washcloths/soap/shampoo ready in the shower, and extra grocery bags to transport wet clothes.  Another attendee noted that while other Type A onlookers may have cringed at the mess, they whole-heartily enjoyed (and commented on out loud) the organization of it all.  Of course, this made my heart swell to hear, because what more does a Type A love than to be acknowledged for his/her forethought and efforts?  Ha.  In all seriousness, though, it was nice to be noticed, but nicer to have had everything go so well.  And truthfully, Jacob was really in on a lot of the planning and organization.  He even utilized his police megaphone to gather all the participants for the kick-off.

Jacob was so excited to mark the path to the bathroom.  He started with his version of a star, included many smiley faces along the way,

and ended with an X (to mark the spot, of course).

He also enlisted his very artistic cousin (and two little helpers) to create a banner.

filling a bucket with cookies

While everyone was still arriving, participants could try out the Jello stomp, pudding fling, and pancake frisbee toss.  Yes, the Jello stained feet.  Yes, there was pudding everywhere.  No, the pancakes did not fall apart...much.

After some deliberation, we decided to put vessels of food fight items in small, random groupings around the yard.  The "ammunition station" provided anything squirtable, as well as spoons and straws to utilize however desired.  This is also where the whipped cream "pies" were distributed and refilled after being smashed in faces.  

Buckets of water were provided to help clear eyes/goggles/hands in the heat of the battle.
The tarps were up to ensure the baby plants in the garden didn't get doused in caramel sauce, or something.

Once most everyone had arrived, we convened to go over some ground rules, counted down from three, and yelled, "Food fight!"  My brother is credited with the suggestion to include the iconic "food fight" battle cry.  He is also credited with offering to build a playlist and bringing a professional-grade speaker on which to play it.  And he kicked off the fight by spraying everyone with root beer.  Pretty sure this was a dream that lived in his head in a similar way to how it lived in Jacob's.

The green pool was full of noodles, and the Jello all got dumped in the pink.

So much whipped cream in so many faces...haha!

Just a kid living his dream.
I treasure this picture so much. ♥

The fight itself lasted close to forty minutes before ammunition ran out and people were done being sticky.  It is worth noting there were no tears and no injuries, that I know of (unless you count some rock-hard-cookie-induced welts on a couple of the older participants, which were just laughed away).  After helping "sweep" the yard, the thirty-ish participants filed through the hosing-off station and were welcomed to enjoy the "food reception" with the thirty-ish onlookers.  While the small host initially thought this meal should include all the fare guests had used in the fight itself, we got him talked down to hot dogs, chips, and whatever anyone wanted to bring to share.  Grandma came through and at least provided Jello to be eaten, which seemed to appease him.  ;)

We fully realize this was all a little "extra" and somewhat wasteful, but it really was worth it.  It was not a "yes" we had to say, but it was also a "yes" there wasn't much reason not to say.  Not only were we able to turn it into several math lessons, but also lessons in hospitality, generosity, and logistics.  (The kid very well may have a future in event planning after honing his skills with this one.)  While it was not necessarily an easy "yes," it turned into one after seeing how much joy even just the anticipation was bringing the small host, as well as many potential guests.  We were so glad to provide the space and opportunity for kids (and a few adults) to be kids and make a core memory together.  

Jacob was genuinely grateful (without any coaching) and has continued to thank us in the days following.  He has even said the next one could be "medium," then the next "small," then we could just have people over to play.  (Ha!)  I took that to mean he realized how much work and resources went into making it happen, so he does not expect "bigger and better" if/when we do it again.  I also took it to mean that he highly valued having some of his favorite people from so many of our circles in the same place and really just loved having his friends meet his friends.  ☺  We'll see about a "next time."  It did encourage several pantry clean-outs...so...

Thank you so much to all who helped make this dream a reality for our sweet boy.  From contributing ammunition (some even without attending), to showing interest, to participating - he truly loved it all.  Special thanks to the dear friend who volunteered to serve as the event photographer - complete with real camera!  Several others took and shared pictures, which is always appreciated, but never did I ever think we would have such quality shots of all the memories made.  I (perhaps obviously) did not share them all here for the sake of privacy, but we are so glad to have such thorough documentation to enjoy for years to come.

Still finding sticky spots and now-crunchy noodles in the yard,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

meeting new people

bargains

stuffed animal camp-out at the library
(They each left one to spend the night at the library and got to see what "mischief" they'd been up to at story time the next morning.)