Fallout Season 2 Watch Party

Two years after the first season came out, Season two of fallout dropped!  They released one of eight episodes each week starting in December.  We decided to wait until all eight episodes were out before starting season two.  Amazingly, we encountered no spoilers, though I guess there weren't any wild turning points that would have merited the internet imploding.

Billy 3D printed a fallout boy decoration for our blue and yellow table.

Grace helped me make a fruit and veggie platter that we saw online!  It is one of the first things that we've made that looks better in the picture than it did in person!  It was still tasty though.

She also took some labels that I printed and made them in to 'fallout' signs.

We enjoyed the first two episodes with Kim and Mark, but they had to leave to help their oldest.  We enjoyed one more episode with the Cornishes, and then they were off as well.  I think we might have watched two more Saturday night, just the two of us, and then finished off the season Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, it was pretty good. = )

I love any reason to party, and we really had a fun time chatting and watching a brand new show!

Now, we just have another two years to wait until the next season!

later days

edit 3-27-26: backdated for continuity.

Fallout Watch Party Crafts, So Far

Billy is quite excited for the premier of the Fallout Series that Amazon is putting out in April.  I am excited about a reason to party!  I enjoyed playing Fallout 76 with him a few years ago, the environment, despite being post-apocalyptic, is quite enjoyable.

The fun part of most parties is the decor, so I've started creating some themed items to set out around the party, as well as planning our costumes.

I spied the blue tumblers from across the thrift store and knew I had to have them, especially at only 45cents a piece!  The pitcher was a Kalamazoo rummage sale find!

The vinyl came out too cute!  And our guests will be able to take these home with them if they so choose, or they will donated for some other nerd to find! = )

My next craft was to add out 'vault' number to another rummage sale find: a bright blue polo!  We decided on 82 since it's not assigned to anywhere yet, and it the year we were both born. = )

And, after the party, it can also make a nerd happy. lol.

My most time-consuming craft so far is making some nuka cola caps!  In the inspiration post that I read, she spray painted them red, then printed out some stickers to add to the top.  Well, I didn't have any red spray paint, and my cutter is different from hers, so I just used some vinyl.

3 coats of acrylic paint transformed some used bottle caps into a lovely red canvas.

My machine does not like to cut small things, so these 10 caps took me almost an hour to label!

The vinyl looked pretty good, but on several appliques I lost some letters, so used the negative outline to paint the lettering with white paint.  By the last one, I was a pro and it looked almost as good as the vinyl!

Thankfully, the setting is mostly a wasteland, so the messy lettering is no big deal!

My final craft, so far, comes from one of my favorite parts of playing 76 with Billy: finding plungers!  Whenever one of us would find a plunger, we'd announce "plunger!"  It was utterly ridiculous, and so much fun. lol.

So, William and I snagged 3 plungers from the dollar tree.  We will 'hide' them for our guests to find.  Each one has a prize (that is more than wood & rubber for their inventory!)

The first prize is a bag of rolos, the second prize is a five dollar bill, and the final prize is mac and cheese themed socks (blue & yellow!)

Considering the party is still over two weeks away, I sure am excited about it!

later days

Other Summer Fun

The day after we returned from our trip, we celebrated Billy for Father's Day, with a trip to Pizza Hut (his choice.)  Before we left, I asked the kids to make cards, so that it wouldn't be a rush the morning of.  We sure are thankful for the awesome Dad Billy is every single day!

We had to come back to reality quickly after vacation mode, since William had a follow up orthopedics appointment, he will continue to be montiored.  He might be a little big for the entertainment they offer in the waiting room.

On Tuesday, William asked if we could do teatime on Wednesday, since we all enjoyed the tea and poetry time during our homeschooling days.  The girls were amiable, so I laid the books out with their Latin folders for the next day.  It was a pleasant endeavor!  We had a few 'special' cookies, but not Milanos, so I'll have to up my game next time.  The poems were funny, interesting, poignant, and thought provoking!

Sumer Schedule 2026, for posterity.

Next up, Grace had a dermatology appointment, only good news!  We tacked on a trip to a nearby thrift store, and then used a coupon from Cinnabon that was about to expire.  And, since it was so close to Billy's office, brought it to him, and he had time to sit with us outside and enjoy the pretty day!

Wild flowers? Planted flowers?  They were really pretty, either way!

There's a joke in the north that traffic cones are the state flower, since they can only do much of the construction during the warmer months of the year.  So, the sign 'growing' in the flower patch seemed apropos.

Grace made a fun carwash out of the couch cushions, then left to spend the night a friend's house.  I did see part of Alice hanging out in there later that night, so it must have been pretty comfy!

Emily and Grace a planning a Fourth of July party, and were working on the banner.

One morning I had put on a fun little German song for the kids to enjoy, and after it moved on, Fallout Radio came on.  I turned it off and three of them asked for it to be turned back on!  So, we listened to Fallout Radio.  It definitely made me want to play, sadly I had chores to tend to, so I didn't have the time.  

Billy is off tomorrow (July 3rd) since the Fourth falls on a Saturday this year, which means we won't do our dailies, and everything will be more relaxed!  And I really feel we need more relaxing, because it has been a lot of go-go-go so far!

later days

Murder Mystery: A Murder on the Grill

 At the end of last school year, Tabitha and I made plans to co-host a murder mystery party at her house!

I collected things for a few months, and when we went to set up, I was pleased with how well it turned out, since it didn't feel like much!

Michael manned the grill for us, cranking out burgers and hot dogs (and asparagus!)  Kristy brought some cornbread and streusel muffins, with some candy corn mixture, that I did not try.  I brought corn on the cob, buns, chips, and some condiments. It was quite a feast! Once the flies found us, we had to cover the food. 

These cool sunglasses that I had, acted like a real time filter!

It was a laid back affair, Tabitha invited some non-playing detectives, so everyone got to make some guesses!  As a side note, I totally stole some of these pictures from her facebook page, so I can only claim some of them as my own. = )

Tabitha was the lovely Ms. Kansas, Michael a rebellious mechanic.

David was an en vouge musician, while Kristy was the darling kid sister of the deceased.

Billy was a Russian scientist who defected (to Kansas?), and I was a divorcee with money. (and cool glasses)

Some of the bonus detectives!

These ladies had speaking parts, but were not suspects.  

Who dunnit?

It was Tabitha!  Or Tabitha's twin maybe?  lol.  

It was a really fun time, and I'm so glad that we got to pretend to time travel back to 1950s Kansas!  We ate, we laughed, we acted sus, and the weather was perfect for it!

Can't wait til the murderer strikes again! ; )

later days

As a side note, I bought a dress just for this event, 6 weeks in advance, and it took forever to arrive (I didn't realize it was coming from China.)  The reviews recommended ordering up a size, so I did, and it was too big. = (  I was so sad, and there was no time to order another one.  I attempted some simple alterations, but the fit was wrong, so it just didn't look good. 

I ended up in my fallout costume again, so Grace assumed we were going to another fallout party! lol.

Fallout Premier Party

A few months ago, I posted about some of the prep I'd been working on for our Fallout Premier Party.  After that, I did a little more prep, and the day finally arrived where we could party and watch the Premier on Amazon!!!

I bought some "squirrel bits" at Gordon's. They were pretty tasty!  Our other main course options were Salisbury steak and noodle cups!

The first round of beer labels didn't really suit my overall effect, so instead of printing labels, we went super basic.  I was much happier.  And, I came to the realization that I could save the labels to glue back on after the party and get my deposit back!!! = )

I desperately wanted the pencil skirt and polyester sleeveless turtleneck with a flip and scarf, 

but that was too modern to be cannon, so I ended up with a button down and pseudo poodle skirt.

One of the party games was to find a 'hidden' plunger.  It's one of my favorite parts of 76, as I think I've mentioned before, so I wanted our guests to feel the excitement too!

After sourcing many stores, I found that these pint-sized (not literally) coke bottles were the only economical glass ones available in our area! They did transform beautifully into nuka-cola bottles though! = )

I found this awesome prop at the MSU surplus store, but was not willing to drop $5 on a prop that wouldn't even light up!

The "Fancy Lad Cakes" made an appearance!

As did the Family Size of Sugar Bombs.

Billy tested out his 3D printer on a badge, but this one was far too large for the lapel pins that I bought, so I painted it with metallic paint and used it as decor.

Cram anyone?

I very a pro pros magnet to use as part of the spread.

I needed something to protect the coffee table, so I repurposed one of our Witcher watching party props!!! = )

The blue and yellow Vault Tec color scheme stretched to the kitchen!

We moved the couch into the bathroom, and then "nuked" the girls' room!

This yellow sheet served double duty!  First, we used it to 'hide' the bunk area of the girls' room, then I cut it down for the twins' talent show!

Emily, Grace, and Juliet found some last-minute blue and yellow to match the theme!  They all approved of the Nuka Cola! = )

Party time!!!!

I was so happy to have a full house to enjoy this premier!  Hopefully everyone enjoyed the 2-3 episodes we watched. = ) Billy was pleased with the direction of the show, and I loved the party! = )

Afterwards, we cleared the room, but didn't return the couch, since Zoey got to stay over for a sleep over with Grace and Juliet!!!! = )

A month after the party (as always) I found another prop that would have made a great side table!!! = (

It was one awesome party, I'm so glad that we got to celebrate with friends.  And maybe in a few years when the next season comes out, we can do it again! 

later days

edited 5-26-24: backdated for continuity.