1 post tagged “clown”

So, a couple of months ago I asked Brianna what kind of party she would like to have this year.  She knew she wanted an outdoor thing, so we brainstormed some themes.  Beach party at the lake was a contender, but then we thought of clowns and a carnival theme.  Y'know, cotton candy, popcorn, clowns, balloons, piñatas, bouncy castle, games for prizes.... the whole shebang!

When we came down from La-La-Land -- and checked the budget -- we decided to go with the carnival theme at home, but slightly... uh... smaller.  It wasn't just the cost of all the activities, but her guest list usually rivals that of an A-List Hollywood party (we were expecting about 35 kids) so I knew I'd already be spending a lot on food and goodie bags! 
Much to her dismay, we said no to the bouncy castle, but we did book an excellent clown to face-paint, sing songs, do magic tricks and make balloon animals for 2 hours (not cheap, let me tell you)!  I didn't rent cotton candy or popcorn machines, but I did fill up 3 (yes... THREE) piñatas so that there would be less pushing and shoving, and everyone would get a good amount of candy.  

We also found some great games at Wal-Mart -- horseshoes, obstacle courses, basketball, soccer.... all for under $10 each (the horseshoe sets were less than $4 each!!).  I also bought fantastic cakes from a wholesaler here in town -- one chocolate upon chocolate with chocolate on top and then drizzled with chocolate... and one yummy berry burst with raspberries and blueberries on top.  Expensive, but a nicer alternative to a Safeway slab cake, and I didn't have to spend a bunch of time baking one myself.

I thought I had everything under control until the weekend approached and I realized that it was going to RAIN!!!
#%$^&*@ !!!!

I had pushed her birthday party to July 5th because her actual birthday is always cloudy or rainy (it was beautiful this year) and since it fell on Father's Day this year I thought few people could make it.  That day, I joked that Mother Nature would feel my wrath if it rained during the party, so my sister suggested that I increase my carbon footprint by buying Hummers for everyone in my family, throwing out all my recycling, etc.  Mother Nature must have known I was not happy because she held the rain back just long enough for the kids to play outside for a couple of hours!  All in all, I'd say it was a successful party!  Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do next year!!