Do you have a pool nearby? Doesn’t need to be your own, maybe just one in your neighborhood, or a pool belonging to a friend would work too. If so, consider booking it one late afternoon for a pool party hosted by your kiddos. That’s what we’re doing. The idea came from my 8-year-old who wanted some buddies to come over and swim in our subdivision’s pool and eat pizza in the clubhouse. And here’s how we’re putting the whole thing together:

• Joey and his little brother Danny came up with a guest list.
• We picked a date and time — we’re going with 5-8PM for cooler temps.
• Together, we brainstormed a menu (pizza, side dishes and drinks).
• We signed up with evite (online invitations galore!), picked our design, entered email addresses of every guest, personalized our invitation and sent it off.
• We indicated on our invite that everyone should bring something, and we included our wish list (chips, fruit, dessert and drinks). We’ll provide the pizza and paper goods, and as folks RSVP, they check off what they’ll bring — this way, we’ll be able to keep constant tabs on how our buffet is shaping up.
• We invited parents to stay and play or drop and go — although, we’ll need a few stragglers to help us watch the masses (pools can be danger spots for kids, you know?).
• We told kids to bring with them swimsuits, towels, sunscreen and pool toys they wish to share.
• And now we’re watching our guest list grow — we get notified by evite every time someone RSVPs, and we know already that eight adults and eight kids will be splashing around with us this Saturday. We also know we’re getting some chips and dessert so far.

Any pool party plans for you this summer?