I suppose it's bound to happen that birthday parties dwindle the more children you have, especially when the last three's birthdays are so close together. Margaret managed to get all the way to five without a party that wasn't just cousins coming over. Granted, in our family a cousins-only party can be a fairly large affair--especially if you are used to children's birthday parties involving intricate party games, expensive goody bags, and one friend per year of your life--which is not really how we roll :)
So I did what any practical mother of many would do and threw one party to cover them all and invited everyone we know with children who we thought would be interested and all of our old friends who live at our new duty station that we haven't seen for years. If you've been keeping up with us over the years you know that we kind of have an invite first, plan later party mentality and this was no different. The day before our friend asked how many kids were coming and I realized that I didn't actually know. I went home, did some quick calculations (30!), panicked, and ran out for emergency juice box and potato chip rations because we clearly did not have enough.
I think the party was a success!
At the very least we did not run out of food.
We have a soft spot in our hearts for teddy bears which was passed down from Chris' grandmother, along with a not insubstantial collection of her bears. I've been hoping to throw a teddy bear picnic party for years and this was obviously the perfect occasion since it involved basically throwing some quilts on the ground and artfully arranging teddy bears about the place and then, you know, providing a picnic supper.
The one request I had from the children who can speak, was for a pinata. That pinnacle of all birthday party activities. This was my first attempt at a paper maché pinata and it was cute but not nearly as sturdy as my regular cardboard creations. It only took three kids to bring it down from the hook (I had my suspicions about being a very weak spot before we started). Oh well! The kids got the candy out which is what they really wanted anyway.
The kids all had fun playing in the yard and the grown-ups all got to catch up and chat and now the little ones can't say they've never had a party. I call that a win-win-win :)