How to Say Goodbye to Summer

The end of summer brings a relief that the kids are going back to school along with disappointment that vacations are over and visits from friends and family are going to slow down.To take the sting out of saying good-bye to summer, have an outdoor party to celebrate all that you enjoyed.

Instructions

1. Invite your friends and be sure to have the kids invite theirs too. Be sure to ask everyone to bring some food and drinks, and coordinate with them on their choices. The only thing you should have to buy is the hot dogs and buns, propane for the grill and paper plates. But you can't forget the watermelon, which will come up later on.

2. Pick a theme. Hawaiian always works great. Spread out the seashells you collected over the summer at the beach and grab some flowers from the garden to make some leis. Don't forget to light up the tiki torches.

3. If you decide to get a little creative with your share of the food, consider making your own special version of Kalua Pig (pork cooked in a pit oven). Instead of a pit oven, use a slow cooker. Poke 3 to 5 pounds of pork with a fork; rub 1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke and a few teaspoons of sea salt all over the pork. Cook in the slow cooker on low 1 full day, turning once. Remove the meat, shred and place back in slow cooker to keep it warm. This should yield 10 to 12 servings.

4. Grab a piece of PVC pipe and let the kids decorate it with markers. Position an adult on each end of the pipe, turn up the music and see how low they can go under the limbo stick. After you have finished the game, plant the stick in the ground, hand out stones one at a time and let everyone have a toss at it. Give a prize to the one closest to the stick.Put together a few Hawaiian outfits from past parties and put them each in a stack at one end of the yard. Have tag teams line up at each end of the yard and start a relay. One runs up, throws the clothes on over their own, runs to the other side and back, takes the outfit off and tags the next in line.This is where the watermelons mentioned above come in handy. Be sure to include a watermelon-eating contest. The kids will love this one and you will enjoy the friendly competition.Don't forget the water balloon fight or, if you are creative, the coconut toss. Let the kids do the work of filling up the water balloons. When they are done, line everybody up and pair them off. Start the toss as they stand close by, then increase the space between them one step at a time until, one by one the teams are eliminated. The last team standing wins a prize.

5. Nobody likes to see the end of summer; but if you can end it on a high note, it will start the new school and work year off on the right foot; and it is a tradition that can continue and be improved on for years to come.