How to Host a Boardgame Night:)

Every few months we host a board game night with a few of our couple friends.  Might not sound that exciting to everyone but for this married mom living in suburbia this is one of those events I really look forward to.  There a few keys to a successful board game night for us, they are as follows:

1.  Keep the group small/intimate- 4 or 5 couples MAX otherwise too much going on.
2.  Make sure everyone coming likes playing board games
3.  Drinks and food available
4.  Pack and Plays, monitors, etc. for babies/kids that are coming so parents can relax and enjoy
5.  Provide options for games and let everyone decide
6.  Pajama theme works well- everyone is comfortable and it keeps it casual

Dylan loves when he gets to hang out with baby Bryce and McKinnley (pictured below) which is good because he gets to a lot because we hang out with their parents a lot.  Conveniently we are all in the same neighborhood too now which makes things so much easier.  Everyone trickled in around 730pm.  I had a few appetizers out but nothing to heavy since everyone had eaten dinner.  Also, it was a Friday night and my cooking is not the greatest so I went for easy store bought taquitos which are my new favorite appetizer.  So the first hour serves as a cocktail hour/letting the kids hang out.  And of course- making sure we get a picture of the kids:)

So we start getting the kids to bed.  Mine of course caused the most problems, but finally they're all down and we're ready to play.  We started with the Game of Things, which is an awesome game!  HIGHLY recommend.  The game can get very racy- which with this drinking crew it did quickly- but lots of laughs!  That's an individual game so when we finished with that we decided it was time for a team game- rather than couples we did boys vs. girls in Cranium.  The girls DOMINATED.  By the time we ended Cranium it was after midnight.  We did a little Bizz Buzz then Catch Phrase.  I threw in some late night frozen pizzas then I had to put myself to bed before the Mario Kart tournament started in the basement.  I think Nic came to bed around 2:30am.  He's feeling great today:(

This is one of my favorite events to host because it's so easy, inexpensive and a really great time.  Since the weather is getting cold social events seem to die down a bit which I think can be a little depressing so this is a great way to get a small group together still.  And an event where you can bring the kids- so no paying for a babysitter- which is key:).