Of birthdays, pizza and playlands...

Bok Boy turned 6 last week, and for over a month all he's talked about was his birthday party. He desperately wanted to invite his whole class and his friends from outside school, which adds up to an awful lot of 4-6 year olds! Economically, we couldn't do any of the "cool" parties at gyms, video parlors, etc, and our house would explode with that many kids, even if the weather held.

Bok Boy was angling for the giant mouse pizza parlor, but I wasn't looking forward to cardboard pizza and buying thousands of tokens. I talked him into Round Table Pizza instead, and the local one has a full size playland inside (I know, germ city but kids love them!).



I have to tell you, it was the BEST birthday party we've ever done! All I had to do was show up with the cake, hand sanitizer, and a few crafts. The kids ran, screamed, and played for 2 solid hours (making the parents very happy because they'd be worn out for the rest of the day), and I didn't have to do anything!

No cleaning punch out of my carpet, finding cake under my couch or keeping the kids out of the fishtank. Instead, I got to sit and visit with other parents and family members and eat GOOD pizza (trying not to let my ears bleed from the decibal level), and just make sure no kids ran off.

We're definitely looking at doing it again next year, and Little Miss is already asking to do the same for her birthday later this month! What are your best birthday party ideas?