The party's over!

I'm here to post that we survived yet another year of the Anderson Annual Luau. The party was a huge success--due largely to the fact that everyone pitches in to help...

Kobe & Tehani: I'm sure we're in total violation of numerous child labor laws (and probably some health codes as well) but Thing 1 and Thing 2 were formally inducted as official luau workers this year. These two cut all of the rhubarb (you can't very well have strawberry rhubarb pies without rhubarb) and all of the veggies for the tahitian raw fish. And, I am also very happy to say that they finished their job with all of their fingers in tact!
Cynthia: Cynthia's job is to boss everyone else around and tell us that we are behind schedule--even when were not. She also makes the invites for the party (which is a project in and of itself) and updates all of our shopping lists, guests lists, and schedules. She's also the head cleaner. On top of that, she's also in charge when we do our post-luau debriefing. Yes, there is seriously something wrong with a family that does a formal written post-party assessment. If there's a treatment program or an intervention that can be done to help us, please let me know.

Raymond: Our resident cop wears several hats on the luau committee:

• Lime Juicer--I'm not sure why, but this has always been his job. The limes are used to marinate the raw fish my mom makes. Also, don't ask why my mom doesn't just use lime juice from a bottle. She won't.
• AV Specialist--You can't have a luau without a full sound system and speakers around the whole back yard. DJ Ray always spins it up island style for luau goers to enjoy!
• Security consultant--Basically this means that Raymond is in charge of calling my parent's home security company and turning it off during party prep. We assigned this to him after several years of having fire trucks show up at the house after we'd set off the fire alarm. For some reason, my dad doesn't like getting a charge from the security company for a fire call when there isn't really a fire. Go figure?
• Tent puter-upper: We've decided that we can't really make our 70 year old father do this by himself (or set up the tables and chairs for 100+ people) so we usually all end up helping with this job. And if you're a tent puter-upper that means you are also a...
• Tent taker-downer: The only bad thing on this job is that the tent, tables, and all chairs have to come down the night of the party after it is done. And this isn't a rule from the rental company or anything--it's a Ray & Jackie rule. Hours after the party is over, everything is back where it belongs!

Laura: My main job has always been to try and avoid as much luau work as possible. This year I was assigned as a baby wrangler--aka Charlotte holder. I also had the very important job as the head "We forgot something can you go to the store?" person. They're tough jobs but someone's got to do it.

Oh, and here's a lovely picture of me making the chow mien noodles for the luau--proof that I DID indeed do work for this year's party (even if Cynthia says anything to the contrary.)

Just think, only 301 days left until next years luau. And I'm sure we're already behind schedule!