How Yoda sodas saved the day

{Artist's Impression of Team G in our Star Wars gear... if only things had turned out differently}

I felt we were due for a family Theme Night. Inspired by my creative friend Meg, I suggested a Star Wars night to the family and was met with great enthusiasm (imitation is the highest form of flattery).

As Meg borrowed our Star Wars costumes and light sabers for her theme night, we planned to reciprocate and make use of her Yoda face paint and Ewok hoodie.

Email from Simone to Meg: 
Hey can we borrow your Star Wars costumes for Saturday night? We want to use your cool-as theme dinner idea. 

Email from Meg to Simone:
If you want to do a theme dinner eat "Han burgers" and have "Yoda Soda" (green fizzy or icecream sodas).

Awww! Han burgers and Yoda sodas! What a cute idea, I thought.
Nice and easy too. 
Our family is pretty mad-keen on Star Wars. We have the entire DVD movie collection; from Dash's Star Wars birthday party we have a Darth Vader helmet, a Princess Leia wig; Dash has loads of Star Wars lego and figurines... we even have an old 1970's Star Wars pillowcase Grandma kept from Mr G's childhood.
This was going to be a fun family night, with another great "how to do a cool theme dinner" post for the blog, I was certain.

After the Weekend...
Email from Meg to Simone:

Did you have your Star Wars night yet?

Email from Simone to Meg:
Do I have a story for you...

After realising that Saturday night would be a wash-out with Dash at a friend's and Miss Fab at a birthday party, we decided to have it Friday night instead of Saturday. I grabbed some ice cream and lime fizzy drink for Yoda Sodas and then came and knocked on your door to borrow the costumes... but you were out.

Never mind. We headed home and me and Miss Fab had fun setting up a beautiful Star Wars table setting using lego figures, leftover party plates and Mr G's childhood Star Wars pillowcase, circa 1978.

My intention was to phone you and swing by and grab the stuff, when i got a minute.

We pulled out a pile of costumes in readiness for the fun dressing up...

Then Nan and Grandad turned up out of the blue... (my parents) and we said, JOIN US! So they said OK.

I defrosted the mince for the Han Burgers and made the patties.

Mr G came home, tired from a long week, and started talking bikes with Dad.

Then the screaming started.

Ear piercing "I am dying or really really hurt" screaming from the driveway.

Scrag had decided to have a go on Dash's MGP stunt scooter and had SOMEHOW jammed his finger... in the brake.

I have no idea why he thought of sticking his finger in there, but there it surely was.

And the screaming wouldn't stop.

Scrag's fingernail went instantly black, his finger swelled up and we thought it might even be broken. We tried cold packs, flannels, taping it (carefully) to the other finger, offering sweets, ice-blocks, cuddles... but nothing could make the screaming stop... and there was nowhere in the house to escape the sound.

It was hot, stuffy, the Han burgers were drying out and I was starting to melt down in the hot kitchen with the screaming going on and on, trying to remember what I was doing, what I should put in Han burgers, calculating gluten free vs non-gluten free buns...

All hope of a fun dress-up night had evaporated. 

Finally Scrag took himself sobbing to bed and before long fell into an exhausted sleep.

Meanwhile, Miss Fab had started weeping in disappointment over our spoiled plans and ran off to her room to cry over her wasted hard work; Nan and Grandad were wishing they hadn't accepted our invitation and Daddy was just counting the minutes til he could collapse on the couch.

We ate our dried-up Han burgers in sullen silence. No one was in the mood for dressing up.

But all was not completely lost. Things brightened up when we made the Yoda sodas. They were even yummy enough to lure Miss Fab out of her room. The Yoda Sodas saved the day.

Even though nobody felt like dressing up, we put on Return of the Jedi and watched it with Nan and Grandad, grateful the screaming had stopped...

On Saturday I COMPLETELY forgot to phone and tell you that we had already had our malfunctioned attempt at a Star Wars night, as I shuttled kids back and forth from Cricket to present shopping to play dates to parties... Until your box turned up so kindly on the doorstep. (THANKYOU!!!)

And that's the end of the story.

Ah well, that's family life aye???

Will return the box to you asap.

xxxx

......................

Editor's note: Actual email may differ slightly

So ends the tale of how a bottle of  fizzy lime mixed with ice cream salvaged an otherwise-ruined evening.

The moral of the story is clear...

(1) Never let a 3-year-old ride a stunt scooter - there's a reason they are for "Age 8+"

(2) Once the screaming starts, your best-laid plans are pretty much dead and buried

(3) Never mind, there'll be other theme nights

(4) An ice cream soda for dessert can fix just about any ruined dinner

(5) Even a disaster can be blogged about

If you want to see how it's REALLY done, visit Meg and see her cool photos from their awesome Star Wars Theme Night *sigh* 

Ah well, at least we tried, aye Yoda?

{P.S. For those of you who were concerned, Scrag's finger was not broken. He has a black nail and will almost certainly lose it. He woke up from his snooze feeling much better, just in time to watch the Emperor being defeated and the new Death Star destroyed. He is back to his usual happy self.}