Ch-ch-ch-changes: Crawfish boils through the years

Even before we met, Ken and I both loved hosting crawfish boils.  My parents (ok, my mom) threw me a crawfish boil party for my 17th birthday (oh, a couple of years ago) and ever since then, I think they're a super fun way to celebrate.  And I LOVE to host parties!  The 1998 crawfish boil was legendary.  You know typical teenager stuff. None of which I care to admit to now, nor care to elaborate on, given that I hope that my children will read this some day. Fast forward 10 years to 2008, and Sunida and I hosted one for our 27th birthdays.  Andrew (my brother) cooked all of the crawfish, there was a keg, it was wild until the wee hours of the morning.  One guy was drinking vodka from a handle. My best guy friend was singing and professing his love via a serenade from West Side Story (they're now happily married, by the way!) to a good girlfriend of mine. It was kind of a crazy night!  That birthday, I wished to meet my future husband.  And only a short month later, I met the man of my dreams!
So, naturally, we hosted a shrimp boil together a month after meeting for July 4th 2008, and then a crawfish boil together in 2010 (we skipped '09 because we were still rebuilding from Ike)!
Ok... I am rambling.  Stick with me....there is a point!
So, 2010 was the 1st annual Zimmer/Lutschg crawfish boil.  It was a blast! We had about 75 people and partied until about 3am.  We had a live band, lots of beer, went through 3 tanks of margaritas and 150 pounds of crawfish. Andrew and Christina met for the second time (they're now getting married....I see a trend here!) and we did a midnight boat cruise for those who stayed late.  It was a wild night.

In 2011, the second annual crawfish boil happened and it doubled as my 30th birthday party.  It was wild. We had a great band, 100 people, 200 pounds of bugs, 3 tanks of margaritas, tons of beer, and the evening ended with a couple of people passed out from too much whiskey around 3am. At one point my best guy friend closed the garage doors and took keys to convince people to stay and party all night.  The captain had enjoyed too many beverages to embark on said boat cruise. . 

Last year, 2012, was a little calmer. Still lots of people and crawfish, but the party ended about midnight.  My best friend brought her brand new baby, Hayden, who was 2 weeks old and a premie.  There were lots of cute kids and pregnant women. The change was rolling in, but we were still footloose and fancy free. 

 

And then there was this year.  We didn't finish the first tank of margaritas.  We went through half of the amount of beer that we normally do.  And we rented a bounce house.  Nothing says "wild party" like a huge bounce house!  Oh, and we had a newborn!  The party fell on Malley's 2 month birthday.  Too soon for a party for 75-100 people?  Maybe. But we had a blast and loved seeing our friends and family.  Had my mom not come in for the party, I probably would have suffered a nervous breakdown, but she and her workhorse ways made it happen!  Needless to say, I didn't have a chance to shoot many pictures.  Perhaps because our normally perfect baby chose the day to be difficult by not napping, fussing, and deciding that she wanted to stay awake for the entire party. She was darling, but exhausted.  Anyway, the last guests left at 9pm. What?  9.  I am not complaining because I was exhausted, but it was quite the change!  I guess this is a natural transition to normal adulthood, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.  We're parents and our friends are too.  And I wouldn't change it for anything.  Because I get to call this beautiful baby our own!