Years ago, my kids, who at the time were childless, all came to our family island on a lake in New Hampshire for a long weekend. As we packed up to go home, my son-in-law insisted that we had to do this again and next year, for a whole week. We’ve been coming for that week of family fun and togetherness ever since. As children came along, it became a chance for cousins who live in different states to hang out and get to know each other and for siblings to reconnect and create memories to last a lifetime.

We call the week Mutt’s Nuts (long story) and in addition to being time to swim, play games, have campfires and enjoy time together, we have also had some fantastic parties: safaris and pirate parties, wedding and baby showers, and big birthday bashes.

This year, during Mutt’s Nuts we had an infestation of fairies. They built homes all over the island, next to tents, hanging in trees, even on the beach. Then our own little munchkins got to be fairies for the day, dressing up in fairy skirts with wreaths of flowers in their hair. The fairy luncheon had the most marvelous menu, from real cucumber sandwiches to chocolate kiss acorns. There were snail sandwiches and deviled eggs with tomato caps and so much more. The girls loved it.

My daughter, Bobbi, began planning the event months ago and her living room became a fairy house factory. She made the flower wreaths for their hair and conned me into creating the fairy skirts. Jack, being the only boy present got a special crown of feathers that looked very manly, but he opted to copy the girls and wear flowers. My sister even dyed her dog purple for the occasion and both dogs sprouted wings to join the fun.

The girls later snuck off to build more fairy houses of their own, and in the evening we had fairy jars of twinkling lights. Such fun!  Thank you Bobbi, for bringing the fairies to Mutt’s Nuts.