13th Annual Hourly Envelopes of Fun

 I gave the Bigs an out if they wanted to spend New Years with their friends. Zekers said he would hang with us until midnight, and Daisy was going to sneak out for dinner with James and his family but then come back with us. I said I'd take it!

NOON PASTA PICKUP

First we grabbed some lunch, and then we played pasta pickup. We had to get zita pastas into our cup using only a spaghetti held in our mouth. The Pops won this one.

1:00 DEADLY WEAPONS

The object was to pop the balloons using deadly weapons. 

First we threw knives.

From there we moved to blow darts.

For the finale we shot an air gun that looks like a real gun.

2:00 KARAOKE

DanFam5 got a new karaoke machine for Christmas and we put it to good use!

FAKE 3:00 CLEAN BATHROOMS

The fake envelope said to clean the bathrooms. Eli was not having it.

REAL 3:00 DEPENDS

The object was to start with a pair of depends on your ankles and get it into the correct position without using your hands.

We had to get creative.

4:00 ICE CREAM TASTE TESTing

We included Grannie in this one. We had several tubs of Ben & Jerry's to sample.

This is when we handed off Daisy.

5:00 FRISBEE TIC TAC TOE

My own little elf on the shelf.

While we were playing tic tac toe Daisy and James were at the Japanese Palace.

6:00 CASINO HOUR

Daisy and James made it home in time to participate. As a new participant, James got to open his first envelope.

We played Texas Hold 'Em and Black Jack and Five Card Draw.

At the end they could buy prizes with their winnings.

7:00 RESOLUTIONS AND PRIDE

This was a rest hour. We wrote funny resolutions for each other to be read later. We also wrote one heartfelt thing about each other that makes us proud of them, also to be shared later.

8:00 MEMORY

The bowls were numbered and we had to turn them over in order.

The first round the tall people informed us after the game that the numbers kind of bled through and they could see them. So we had to turn down the lights to get a fair game.

James won the prize for this one. 

9:00 SHUFFLE BOARD

Water bottles and dollar bills made this shuffleboard more desirable.

We snapped a couple group pics to end 2025 and then the Daddy was out.

10:00 MARIO CART

Time for some gaming.

11:00 WOULD YOU RATHER

We discussed some 'would you rather questions'. 

Eli was over it.

So was Chuey. Past her bedtime.

MIDNIGHT READ RESOLUTIONS

We started the year off on the right foot.

We also rang it in with sparklers.

The final envelope.

Here's to a great 2026!

[December 31, 2025]