Our first Sukkot at our new house ended a couple weeks ago, but I'm just getting a moment to reflect on it after a big trip to California and packed schedules with these active boys! Life is busy, but it's important to me to take some time to document it! So, without further delay - here is our Sukkot Shenanigans from this year!
Circus Murder Mystery Sukkah
It was a chaotic night in the sukkah with Thebe Igman, Siegfried Anroy, Andi Mann, Tai Nee, Ben Dee, Dan Stabby, S. Taghand, Jo King, Norm Alifunne, Darrin De’vil, Trap Eze, RM Burnum, and Dan German. One of them was the culprit of a serious crime under the Big Top, and we had to solve the mystery of who dunnit! We didn’t quite get the right answer, but it was fun trying! Perhaps we were too distracted by the food: Chicken RingMasters, corn dogs, strongman barbells, clown veggie dip, Animal Crackers, Circus Peanuts, Tightropes, JUGglers, candy apples, mac and cheese “popcorn,” and homemade cotton candy! Lots of sugar and lots of noisy, rowdy boys having fun on this first night of Sukkot!
Movie Sukkah
We enjoyed time with the Biedermans and two-fifths of the Holtzmans while celebrating movies. All foods represented a movie with its name in the title: Chicken Run, Good Burger, Big Fish, Children of the Corn, homemade Fried Green Tomatoes….and so on. We were able to move to the sukkah after a short rain kept us indoors for the main meal; we played some food-titled movie trivia and watched a short bit of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs before the kids begged me to change it to KPop… “C’mon Mom, it has Soda Pop in it. It goes with the theme!” What a fun night with Jack, Elliott, Isabel, Holly, and “Mrs. Holtzman” (a favorite teacher to Knox but who, to me, will always be Lauren- my longtime friend whom I met when she was just a first grader)!
Family Sayings Sukkah
Every family has their own little inside jokes and favorite sayings that have been passed down from one generation to the next. We had some fun with this and created a very interesting meal of foods that represent various funny, poignant, and/or memorable words that have become routine phrases or sayings in our house.
Baseball Sukkah
What a fun night with the best coaches, awesome teammates, and fun foods celebrating “America’s favorite pastime!” Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, hot dogs, sunflower seeds, and all the punny stuff: Plates, Cups, Mounds, celery “balks,” Handel’s Cake “Batter” ice cream, (out)field greens, “bases loaded” baked potatoes, sliders, and “grand slam”wiches! And Kimmy brought a BUNDT cake! We loved this theme, but more than that we loved hanging out with the Greens and the McElyeas on this gorgeous evening in the sukkah! 
Greene Family Camp Sukkah
We paid homage to our home away from home: GFC. We listened to old camp songs and talked about our summers at GFC while enjoying Shabbat with the Figueroas, the Fitzgeralds, and the Marrones. This is one of those “if you know you know” themes, otherwise if you didn’t go to Greene, you won’t really get it. That’s the thing about summer camp - it’s all the inside things you can’t explain, the experiences, the lessons, the songs, the friendships, the connection to kids like you, the spirituality you gain under the “stars in the sky” while finding a piece of yourself you never knew existed. I love that my kids love GFC as much as I did as a kid. I love that we share this connection to a place that has been so good to and for our family. “We went away when we were very young, to find the person that we would become. To find the person that was hidden somewhere inside. What we discovered there, it still holds true, the friends you make become a part of you. The friends you make will each return to you like the tide. Stars in the Sky, bring the summer right back to me. Tell me you’ll try to think about me when ere you see those stars in the sky.”
UT Sukkah
We had an early gathering to watch the TX/OU game with Logan, Jeff, Cherie, Gretchen, Avi, and the kids! Sam and I honored our alma mater with all things representing The University of Texas: Beefo, Horns, 6 Pack, Austinuts, Texas Exes, Drag(on Fruit), PCLs, The Drum (sticks), Texas Toast, “Texas…. Fries!”, The Tower, and Big Bertha snack cups. The kids decorated cookies, making sure to give Bevo the “Eyes of Texas!” And the Longhorns made our day even more special by securing the W!! Hook ‘Em!!!
Home Alone Sukkah
As this theme suggests, we didn’t have any guests this night, but it was still fun nonetheless! “A cheese pizza just for me” from “Little Nero’s Pizza,” “filthy animal” crackers, “highly nutritious macaroni and cheese,” tarantulas, Pepsi, and ice cream sundaes as we “ate junk and watched rubbish” (watched the movie in the sukkah). It was a quaint and perfect ending to an amazing holiday with friends and family!
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