Oh dear - another year!

Just when did birthday parties become so complicated?  I remember (ahh, the good old days) when all you had to do to satisfy the kids was plonk a few chippies in plastic bowls, throw heaps of sweeties around and you were all set to go.  Now, bigger is definitely better, especially when it is bigger.  No more pass the parcel here, thank-you very much.  It has to be a jumbo-size jumping castle or your kids aren't in with a fighting chance.

In our wisdom, the Sweetpea and I decided that combining the three birthday parties into one this year would be a Good Idea.  We have had these Good Ideas in the past.  Notably amongst them was the time I decided that it would be great to tile the bathroom three days before our wedding (I subsequently got stuck in the shower and had to boost my way out over the wall by standing on the soap dish).  So one would think that something would have tipped us off by now that a Good Idea is sometimes just a Bad Idea with a positive attitude. Anyhoo...

Because we have two boys and a little girl, I thought it would be unfair, in spite of the combined party, to have only one boyish birthday cake.  So we had to have two birthday cakes.  After all, a Captain Mac rocket did not seem to be fitting for the Little Miss Snoopy.  So it was back to the drawing board for cake number two.  We decided on the traditional dollie stuck in an ice-cream dress, so that we could serve it with the jellies that I had made (blueberry and lemonade jelly in plastic champagne glasses with a jelly worm swimming in them).  Although there was much heated discussion, amazingly (unlike other years past, where our efforts have almost come to blows), neither the Sweetpea nor I threatened a divorce over the construction of the cakes.

To make the party easier (we had invited 15 kids, and then of course the parents too), we held it at the local swimming pool.  After all, I have white carpets in my house and I did not want to know what would happen if 15 kids were allowed to run around on them carrying their pieces of bright blue rocket cake.  As an experiment, it just did not seem to make much sense.
So we packed off to the pool, bearing all sorts of inflatables for the kids to play with, and all the goodies loaded into huge plastic hampers.

All the adults were encouraged to swim with their kids (I even broke out the old, and by now quite saggy, swimming costume, even though the hairs on my legs were long enough to french plait).  It was a blast.  Everyone had great fun in the pool (wish I had remembered not to wear mascara in an attempt to look decent) and before we knew it, it was time for tea.

And despite all the rigorous planning and huge effort, the ironic part of the whole party was that the kids enjoyed it the most when we blew up balloons for them and then let them go squealing and zooming off around the room (both balloons and kids).  Would they have had more fun with pony rides, professional face-painting and a full theme park?  I like to believe they wouldn't.