This summer, I decided to throw the ultimate summertime block party - New Orleans style.

The block party included a stand for homemade snowballs for our friends and family as well as water play. If you are going to beat the July heat in Louisiana, water play is a must! So why not a gigantic water slide and the whole neighborhood?

Overcast or not, 100-degree heat requires all the cool assets you can bring forth when entertaining; so unlimited snowballs for the kids and adults was the perfect sidekick to the waterslide!

My kids were so excited. They almost didn't believe us this was happening so they kept asking: what are we celebrating?

We are celebrating summer, I told them. And we did. The kids and their friends went up and down the slide carefree from the minute it was fully set up after delivery.

Somehow, it became a boys vs. girls to see who can eat snowballs faster without a brain freeze. For the ultimate cool down, some kids sat in the "splash zone" while enjoying their snowballs!

I couldn't help myself and had to join in the fun. As the ice was being shaved for the snowballs, I pitched in and started making them for the kids.

No kitchen? No problem. Put me to work making something that makes people happy, and pretty soon it felt like I was running my own snowball stand. To see the joy on my kids faces as I handed them the perfect snowball was delightful.

And... When you just simply cannot choose which flavor you want, the rainbow becomes the most popular, as Gabriel decided, not once, but twice! Good thing they had kiddie-sized cups.

Summer parties mean more to me than just getting family and friends together. It is a time where I can sit back and watch my kids be kids with their friends and smile all day long.

Of course, you can make snowballs any time to cool off this summer at home with a simple blender and your favorite fruit juice. In this video, my daughter and I show you how.

Here is to a fun summer and cooling off with homemade snowballs!

This post appeared first on Laura Fuentes.com and the video on YouTube.com/MOMables.