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I just want you to know, on the chance that I was one of the RSVPs you were waiting on, that my invitation never arrived. 
Fuck. I *was* waiting to hear from you, but even if you did RSVP you still wouldn't have gotten a gift bag.
I think you tell terrific stories and you're in my bookmarks *above* Finslippy, Mimi Smartypants, Suburban Bliss, and Dooce.
Damn, I knew I should have RSVPed before Saturday...
Ben had a great time at the party, which did *not* smack of cheapness. Yes, the goody bags contained a lot of cheap stuff, but the bags themselves were top-notch and the goodies' poor quality was more than offset by the sheer quantity. Way more fun stuff than Ben got at a recent expensive birthday party. That party also featured an animal show--but a well-behaved monkey, snake, skunk, and alligator have nothing on psychotic squirrels and pigeons for sheer drama.
Tell your friends to quit whining about the dry kiddie party. Chicago has an open container law, and you wouldn't want Alex to remember that it was his fifth birthday when Mom and Dad were busted by the fuzz. Plus, if someone had called the cops, then there would be *real* guns at the party--totally non-PC.
Y'all missed a fun day camp picnic today--including a pinata filled with sticky candy, ruptured old-school style with a big stick. Who knew?
Can John invite Alex to his sixth birthday party?
Sounds like an awesome birthday party. I would have liked it if I were five. Speaking of which, is Alex five already?!?!?! Holy shit, time flies!!
Oh, and that dating for God thing; I don't know how much of her website you read, but there's a beautiful part where she says, quote:
Jesus told us to reach the "outermost parts of the world." I mean, I'm not going to fly to Kenya and date some guy who eats worms, but I think for me, "outermost parts of the world" means all the hot guys that live around me here in Fremont, California.
I'm glad she's got her priorities straight...
Did you visit the "Date to Save" online store? I especially liked the "Jesus Classic Thong", only $9.99. You might want to add it to your own inventory.
Hey! I also recently survived a kid's b-day bash.(My son's 7th birthday)Only we were dumb enough to do it at our house! (Outside,of course) It also went amazingly well. The gods must be rooting for the August Moms! Glad you had fun!
I just wanted to say I work at Party City and know exactly what cheap crap your talking about. It amazes me how many people bitch at the prices in the CLEARANCE bins...it can't go anymore lower folks.... 
Dude, I am *not* driving all that way unless there are plastic sunglasses waiting for me.
You know--for future reference.
Amy, I was definitely not talking about you re: the RSVP. Any RSVP before the day of the party is fine, I think. And the person who was doing the most whining about no beer was me. I'm glad you're here to back up my claims about that Ramboesque squirrel. It was not to be believed.
Krup, I would love to get Alex and John (you and me) together!
Christine, Party City is *great*. Everything there is under 5 bucks, and I got all those toys for a dollar a piece. I can't believe people complain about the prices there. Unreal.
As a veteran of many kids' parties (my own kids and other kids), a few notes:
- Gift bags are supposed to be full of cheap stuff. It's not like we're raising little Rockefellers here. The kids get to have a bag full of stuff -- that's what counts.
- Too many planned activities can be the death of a party. The best party we ever had was when my daughter turned 7 or 8, we had a garden party in the backyard, the girls painted pots and planted flowers, hung around on the swing set, and had a blast.
- Beer can be a great addition, no question, but I've found that few beers taste sweeter than the one you open AFTER all the kids have gone home and you're basking in the (relative) calm. It's worth the wait.
Great post, as always.
Sounds like Alex's party was awesome. My mom didn't have much money, so my parties always consisted of just a few friends, gift bags with cheap crap, a homemade pie (I hate cake), and streamers decking out the diningroom. They were the best.
I would have loved to have seen the squirrel with attitude. Too funny.
Please, please matchmake me. I could use some friends!
And everyone knows you are the Blog Queen, Flea. Don't even try to be modest.
Alex and I have birthdays very close together. This speaks well of him, I say!
Flea, you have nothing to be ashamed of with Alex's party. He had fun -- that's the cool thing. Danny turns 2 tomorrow (sob!) and we're having two other families (along with the grandparents, natch) for two hours at the park district down the street. You can rent a room for $15/hr, and you just bring your stuff in and cart it off.
The first time we did it was for Jacob's 4th party in February, and it was perfect. Not glamorous by any stretch, but the kids happily played with magnets, craft kits from Oriental Trading, and the pop-up tent & tubes we had folded flat behind our sofa for a year. I had a Costco cake, Domino's pizza, Kool-Aid, soda and water. And it was a HUGE hit.
Anytime you need cheapo party ideas, just shoot me a note... parties are my favorite thing!
(And I agree with Dan -- that first beer after the party's over ROCKS.)
ok, this is totally random, but something told me you'd like it.
hope you do.
http://x-entertainment.com/artic.../articles/0913/
Vena - yes! I do!
Flea, sounds like you threw a great bash. I've always preferred those sorts of parties. One of the best weddings I ever went to had a reception i the park where we all (including the grooms) played on the playground equipment for most of the afternoon. Of course, I'm the girl who had her bat mitzvah party in our house, so I'm likely a little wacky on this front.
Congrats on successfully entertaining 10 5-year-olds!
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