Let's get the party started

James is a lover of all things relating to animals. He had a jungle themed party which was a blast to plan for, only to have nothing go as planned. But for a first time "friends" party with 14 kids, what did I expect??
the house is almost back in order...
And I spent quite a bit of time preparing a fun little slideshow only to have it not work, so I'll go back to Rockyou and at least get this up, so I can move on to other important posts!
Things I've learned:
have EVERYTHING prepared and ready to go well before guests arrive (i thought kids could decorate their binoculars then I would simply staple and tie them together as they played the next game. It took nearly the entire 2 hours to complete this dang craft!)
Make the cake in advance, then freeze and frost the morning of (THANKS aunt Laura for bailing me out!) -Knowing I was short on time, I ran to the store to buy a requested chocolate cake mix and frosting, along with a few treats for the pinata- only to get home and realize I'd left the bag of mix, frosting, CANDLE, and staples at the store. Grrrr... thank goodness for great neighbors!) I ended up adding a few tablespoons to a vanilla mix I already had and it actually tasted really, really good!
Crowd control. James loved having so many friends here, and it was fine, but with so many children, I should have realized the activities I had planned would have been better for a smaller group.
It was a FUN day for James, and that was the goal!
However, I think I will stick with the idea I've had for a while, and do "friend" parties every other year (or every 5 years...!)