Birthday Madness part 2

From 6 AM to the start of the party at 3 PM, I was frantic with preparations. My help showed up an hour before the party started, and we got everything ready in time.

A total of 13 out of the 24 kids showed up for the party. A couple of parents called the day of the party to say their kid was sick, or in one case "too tired." I know that kid well enough to suspect that she was too tired to behave and thus was being punished, but whatever. What really bugs me were the 5 kids who's parents never RSVPed at all. Some of the kids told my daughter that they were coming to the party, but they didn't show. You never know when a reply like that means the kid wants to come but the parent has other plans. I really wish the parents would call (or e-mail) to avoid communication problems.

The weather was pretty bad in the morning, but by the time of the party, it had cleared up. It was still a bit chilly because of the wind, but the sun made for a nice touch. As it turned out, the good weather was really a blessing because the kids really weren't so into dancing. The mom who's help I had enlisted did a fantastic job of getting the kids to dance and play a couple dance related games. Then we served the cake. I had made two cakes using a pair of American cupcake mold sets that we'd been given. I used Swedish muffin recipes instead of American cake mix since we had a milk-free guest, and they didn't really turn out like I'd expected. Luckily the kids didn't really care.

After cake, we let the kids out to burn off some of the sugar. The girls dashed for the trampoline which my daughter just got as a present from us, and the three boys in the group bolted for the ATV. Fortunately we never leave the keys in it, but this gave us an idea. My husband hooked the trailer up behind the ATV and took the kids for a ride through the forest. It was bumpy like a carnival ride, and it turned out that this was the highlight of the day for most of the kids.

When they returned, I served the kids hotdogs. We hid bags of candy for each of the kids that they got to search for, then the three hours were over and the parents arrived to take the kids home. Some of the parents stayed to chat for a while. It turned out to be a really nice day.