New Year's Eve Festivities

This year New Year's Eve plans were all over the place.  Teddy and I talked about going away for the weekend, some people threw out ideas of having a party, others wanted to head to a bar downtown.  But nothing was figured out until around 2:30 pm on NYE when we got a call that there would be a party at The Palace hosted by Mark and Little Jon. 

So, after finishing up our bathroom remodel, Teddy and I got ready to head into the city to celebrate the new year with the crew.  When we first got there everyone was reminiscing about NYE's past, and we noticed that every year had some sort of a theme that helped people remember them.  And everyone was wondering what this year's theme would be.  Well, the theme came down to one word this year, and that word is hats.  Erica and Jennifer started this trend first with a bucket and then a plastic cup and electrical tape resulted in the fashioning of hats no one had ever seen.

Here is the early stages of the hats with Erica, Kelly, Jeb and Jennifer.  Kelly got stuck with the toughest hat being a giant margarita glass taped to her head.

Then they noticed Jeb didn't have a hat, so they started fashioning one out of tape, and Teddy jumped into the mix with his foil creation

There he is, my little foil sailor

Jennifer was trying hard to get a Maerkus Day parade going because that is Mark's favorite

I was the designated driver for the evening, so I headed out to hang with Kris, the other DD in the front room to get a break from the hat crazy that was happening in the kitchen.  Well it didn't take long for the crazy to spill out of the kitchen and join us in the front room.

Apparently Erica fashioned Jon this hat or helmet or whatever you want to call it.  So after seeing this creation, I got sucked back into the kitchen to see what the heck was happening.  And this is what I found.

Apparently Jeb's hat extended beyond hat and they were trying to keep him under control?  I'm not really sure, but I can say with certainty that this is not what I expected to find when I went back in there.  Lucky for Jeb he has super strength and was able to break free from his bonds.

We were waiting for him to turn green like the Hulk as he pulled his way out

Here's Teddy and Jennifer trying out a new shot, The dirty Frenchman.  It is wine with olive juice and is a creation from one of Teddy's favorite cartoons.  And yes, it really isn't meant as a real drink.  I'm still not quite sure why they drank this, but again, I was the sober one.  :)

As you can see the hat theme took off and pretty soon everyone was copying Erica's trend setting hat.  It's like I'm hanging out with a bunch of Shriners 

Before we knew it, it was time for the midnight countdown and we got our champagne toasts ready

Ringing in the new year!

After the countdown Jeb and I were chatting about something, don't really remember what, but what I think is really funny is what is happening on the other side of the room

What in the heck is Jon doing?  And why is Erica helping?

OK, is she still helping or trying to protect Jennifer from Jon?  I'm not really sure, but Jennifer doesn't look like she minds much

It wasn't long before the group convinced Mark to pull out his new Kinects. 

Here him and Kris are playing a sort of raquet ball game.

Jon and I tried it out.

And then Erica hopped in

NYE was highly entertaining this year.  I'm hoping everyone woke up not feeling too terribly, and I wonder if anyone was still wearing their hat in the morning.